Stress is still the most common cause of long-term sickness absence among non-manual workers, according to the latest CIPD survey on absence which found that almost 60% of public sector organisations cite stress as the leading cause of long-term sickness absence – more than double the number of the private sector.
The survey of 1300 HR practitioners also found that there has been a 10% absence fall (from an average of ten to nine days per person) in the past year.
Other key findings include the following:
- Three-quarters of organisations cite minor illnesses as the main cause of absence compared with just over half last year.
- Absence rates are higher among public sector employees (10 and a half days per year) than private sector workers where the average is seven days.
- Of those organisations who report an increase in job
insecurity, almost half attribute the fall in absence to the threat of redundancy. - Over 90% of HR practitioners believe that absence is costly to the organisation but less than half monitor this cost.
- Back pain is the most common cause of long-term absence for manual workers.
- Three quarters of organisations have made changes to their approach to absence in the past two years. The most popular initiatives include the introduction or revision of monitoring procedures (69%) and the introduction of new or revised absence management policies (62%).
- Almost two-thirds cited return to work interviews as the most effective way of managing short-term absence, while the next most effective method was disciplinary procedures (31%).
The report, Employee Absence 2003: A survey of management policy and practice, is available on the CIPD website.
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