NEWS RELEASE
Absence increased in 2006 as workers took an average of seven days off sick, losing 175 million working days and costing the economy £13.4bn, according to the latest CBI / AXA survey.
The research revealed that long-term absence of 20 days or more accounts for 43 per cent of all working time lost, costing £5.8bn. In the public sector just over half of absence (52%) is long-term, while in the private sector this was over a third (38%).
The survey showed that companies who offer rehabilitation programmes and flexible working can help employees back to work and lose less time to absence.
Short-term absences are a key concern. The great majority of absences are genuine, but employers believe around 12% are suspect and involve staff "pulling a sickie". That means 21 million days were lost in 2006 at a cost to the economy £1.6bn.
Asked to cite the reasons behind fake illness claims, seventy per cent of employers felt staff are inclined to create unauthorised long weekends by taking Mondays or Fridays off sick, while 68% said there is a link between sickies and holidays, and 39% said absence is linked to special events, such as major sporting tournaments.
Looking at all absences, the 2006 research shows an increase on 2005, when the average employee took 6.6 days off sick, and the total number of days lost was 164 million. In 2006 absence cost £537 per employee and accounted for 3.3 per cent of working time.
The best performing organisations lost only 2.7 days per employee, while the worst lost twelve. The public sector had the highest average absence at nine days per employee, up half a day from 2005, while the private sector lost 6.3 days. Despite the Government's efforts, public sector absence was 44 per cent higher than in the private sector.