Of the 180 million days that workers took off last year due to illness, 27 million or 15% were ‘sickies’, costing the UK economy a huge £2.5 billion.
 

These are the findings of a study among senior HR personnel at 241 public and private sector organisations undertaken by employer lobby group the CBI and pharmaceutical company Pfizer.
 
The report found that, although the total rate of absence was the lowest in 23 years, the overall cost to the economy of ill health, which included indirect expenses such as drops in customer service levels, was nearly £17 billion. Long-term non-attendance in the workplace was a particular problem.
 
While long-term absences accounted for only 5% of the total days taken off due to sickness, their duration meant that they accounted for 20% of all lost work days in the private sector and 36% in the public sector. Back pain and mental health issues were the key reasons behind the problem.
 
Berkeley Phillips, Pfizer’s UK medical director, said: “Whilst employers view loss of productivity as the main impact of absence, as this report highlights, the economic consequences stretch much further and as such, we as a society, need to do more to advance health and wellness at every stage of life.”
 
On a more positive note, the study entitled the ‘CBI/Pfizer Absence and Workplace Health Survey’ also indicated that absenteeism had fallen to an average of 6.4 days per employee in 2009, down from 6.7 days in 2007, the last time the research was undertaken.
 
The fall was attributed to a small decline in public sector absence rates, which nevertheless remained higher than private sector ones at 8.3 and 5.8 days respectively, a differential of 43%. In 2007, the average staff member in the public sector was off sick for about 9 days.
 
Katja Hall, the CBI’s director of employment policy, estimated that £5.5 billion could be saved by 2015-16 if the public sector’s absenteeism levels were reduced to those of the private.
 
“Improved rehabilitation and workplace health policies are a key part of achieving this, but so is ensuring that absence, where it occurs, is justified,” she added.
 
Larger organisations likewise showed higher rates of absenteeism than smaller ones, with those employing 5,000 or more staff seeing personnel take off an average of 6.6 sick days and those employing between 200 and 499 take off 5.8 days.
 
But the survey also revealed that a massive 95% of organisations now have a formal absence policy in place, a 10% increase on 2007. This may well come in handy as we enter World Cup season…