HR Industry News

Sickies costing the economy £1.6 billion

— 13 April 2007 —

New research reveals that staff ‘pulling a sickie’ may have cost the economy £1.6bn last year and businesses the loss of 21 million working days.

According to a survey conducted by the CBI and insurer AXA, seven out of 10 employers believed staff liked to extend their weekend by taking Mondays or Fridays off sick, while 39 per cent said possible fake illness claims were linked to special events, including major sporting tournaments.

Ceridian's Paul Avis believes that if anything this figure understates the size of the problem and comments, “Trusting line managers to be there to take absence calls and then record them on an IT/paper system means that many organisations fail to accurately record and monitor absence, so the chances are that many are under-reporting their absence rates. In addition the financial dimension rarely takes into account anything other than direct salary costs. There is no doubt that absence is a massive cost and quality burden on emploers but there are constructive ways to address the issue.

Susan Anderson, CBI director of human resources policy, pointed to a ‘culture of absenteeism’ which exists in too many workplaces.

She said that some people think they have a right to use 'sickies' to take long weekends or extend holidays as they please but unauthorised absence was putting colleagues under unfair pressure as well as costing employers and taxpayers well over a billion pounds.

Paul Avis comments, "Clear policies and well-trained line managers can make a real difference. However, we often find that this is undermined by inadequate monitoring, so this is also pivotal to succeeding in picking up those who show either absence indifference or the more malicious entitlement mentality.”

Colds, flu and other minor illnesses were identified by 99 per cent of respondents as one of the top five main causes of short-term sickness, with back pain second in the rankings.

“Such minor illnesses can be covering a multitude of true reasons and specifically child/relation care issues are often hidden within this. In most primary data that I have seen stomach/food poisoning tends to be number one with cold/flu, headaches/migraines being in the next positions for absence incidences. In terms of days lost musculoskeletal neck and back pains and stress tend to be the top causes. Solutions such as occupational health and physiotherapy alongside employee assistance programmes are remedies that can provide positive ROI” comments Avis.

What’s more, the survey revealed that the problem has increased over the past year with workers taking an average of seven days off sick in 2006 compared with an average of 6.6 days in 2005.

The gap between organisations with the highest and lowest absences is more than nine days, and clearly some are managing absence better than others, added Anderson.

Finance teams who invest to save run routinely at one to two per cent absence, with a strong ROI (through insurance premium reductions and increased productivity). Those that have taken the plunge are evangelical about the success of such foresight.Paul Avis, Corporate Development Manager, Ceridian

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