Last week, the ONS released a report that the number of days employees take as sick days per year has fallen to an all-time low.
Why Do Brits Take Time Off Work?
According to these new figures, on average, UK employees took just over four days of sick leave last year, down from seven when data was first collected 25 years ago.
More than a quarter of sick days were taken due to minor illness such as colds and coughs. For employees aged 50-62, back and joint pain was the cause for 1 in 5 sick days. Interestingly, there has been a significant rise in the number of people citing that their absence from work was due to mental health reasons. The ONS reported that in 25-34 year olds, 9.6% of sick leave was due to mental health conditions.
According to the figures, employees in the public sector take more sick leave (2.6 in every 100 days) than those in the private sector (1.7 in every 100 days). The worst sickness levels were found in the NHS, taking 3.3 in every 100 days off sick.
Does That Mean We’re Getting Healthier?
The ONS has reported that the reason the levels of sickness days has decreased in business and industry could be due to the improving levels of health care and the number of years people live before they get long-term illnesses or diseases.
It added:
'Rates may have decreased as healthy life expectancy has improved over time. Rates in the private sector could be lower as workers are less likely to be paid for a spell of sickness. There may also be an increase in presenteeism, where people go to work even though they are ill.'
A lot of large private sector organisations also now operate in the freelance gig-economy and often don’t pay sick leave to workers.
The report also said that the higher levels of sickness in the health, education and public administration sectors (2.5 days off in every 100) could come from employees being more exposed to illnesses and infections. The ONS also added that the profile of the workforce in the public sector could be a factor, as it generally employs older people and women, both of whom tend to have higher sickness rates.
The ONS went on to say that the public sector is also more likely to employ staff with long-standing health conditions and they tend to offer more generous sick leave.
The head of the CIPD has said that the statistics merely reflect the lack of job security for UK workers and some experts have argued that this is due to the uncertainty of Brexit.
Should You Go into Work When You’re Not Feeling 100%?
While many employees who solider in to work when they are full of a cold and flu think they will get a pat on the back or feel that if they take time off they are letting their colleagues down, they are in fact just spreading their germs and causing colleagues to become unwell.
A way around this would be to encourage staff who are unwell to take a day or two off to recuperate or if they feel they are well-enough to work, allowing them to work from home (if this is possible).
What do you think about the findings of this report? Do your experiences concur with it? We’d love to hear your thoughts. Let’s discuss on Twitter and Facebook.
