Sickness Absence on the Rise

Thursday 5th November 2015

According to the Independent, before the financial crisis, the average number of days’ sickness absence for a UK worker was 5 days. This fell rapidly to a 0.93 day low in 2014, however, in 2015 rose to 1.85 days.

It is believed that the reason for the rise in 2015 could be that workers feel more secure in their job and are therefore less likely to go into the office when ill.

Who were the worst culprits for taking sickness absence? Social workers (4.65 days) and HR professionals (3.21). Younger workers were also found to take more time off. Taxi drivers, lorry drivers and shop assistants had the least sickness absence.

Bryony Goldspink, employment solicitor at Gordons says “With sickness absence on the rise it is important to have a robust and transparent Attendance Management Procedure to improve absence levels in the workplace.”

Click here for the full article.

If you would like to discuss this article in further detail, please contact Bryony Goldspink, on 0113 227 0307 or at bryony.goldspink@gordonsllp.com.