Sick days in 2009 cost economy £2.5bn

News Article - 28 June 2010
Category: Business

According to a recent survey, the 180 million sick days taken by employees in 2009 cost the UK economy £2.5bn. On average, each employee took 6.4 days off over the course of the year due to illness. The CBI/Pfizer Absence and Workplace Health Survey also found that rates of absence were the lowest since the survey began being compiled in 1987, and down from 6.7 days per employee in 2007.

Public sector employees averaged 8.3 sick days a year, significantly higher than 5.8 days for the private sector. However, public sector absence did improve on 2007 figures, where employees took an average of nine days off work. This small public sector decrease helps explain the overall fall in number of sick days taken in 2009.

The survey estimates the 180 million sick days taken cost UK businesses £16.9bn, which does not include indirect costs such as reduced customer service and postponing meetings. Estimates from the senior HR staff surveyed at 241 public and private sector organisations suggest that 27 million sick days were not genuine, and cost the economy £2.5bn.

Long-term absence was highlighted as particularly costly, with back pain and mental health issues identified as key causes. Although long-term absence accounted for only 5% of all absences, it made up 20% of lost days in the private sector and 36% in the public sector due to increase man hours lost compared with shorter periods of absence.

While the reduction in sickness-related absence will be welcomed by businesses, sick days are still costing the economy billions a year, with the potential for significant impact to a company's bottom line. With the economic climate still showing signs of instability, companies can ill afford to lose man hours due to fraudulent sick days.

Access HR software allows companies to gain stronger control of employee absence. The HR administration module provides centralised employee information, giving businesses easy access to comprehensive details on work patterns, length of stay, absence duration and other key metrics. With this data at hand, any abnormal absence patterns can be passed to management and dealt with accordingly.

For more information, please call Access on 0845 345 3300.

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