THE RISE OF SICKNESS ABSENCE

Last month, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) released figures on sickness absence in the UK labour market. The headlines made grim reading, but, as ever, it’s wise to delve into the statistics for the real story.

The main points revealed that the percentage of working hours lost because of sickness or injury had risen by 2.6 per cent in 2022, a 0.4 per cent increase on the year before, and the highest since 2004 when it was 2.7 per cent.

Not exactly good news, especially when set against the estimated 185.6 million working days that were lost due to sickness and injury in 2022. This was a record high, and the most common reason was minor illnesses, accounting for 29.3 per cent.

But is this any surprise given we’re only just getting back on track after COVID-19?

It’s easy to look at these figures and see problems but let’s break it down.

In 2022, we were still experiencing the effects of the pandemic, and on the back of furlough ending, shielding and social distancing ending and the great return to offices, it is not a surprise that the sickness absence figures have risen; likewise, with COVID-19 more people have taken sick leave for cold-like symptoms and other minor illnesses to limit transmission around colleagues.

It’s also important to note that the definition of sickness is no longer black and white and more people, with access to flexible working policies, are less likely to take sick leave for illnesses when they can work from home.

While this allows people with minor illnesses to remain productive at home, we suggest that employers have clear flexible working and sickness policies to ensure that employees do not feel pressured to work when they should be taking sick leave instead.

Ultimately, it’s important for businesses to allow their employees restful sick leave so that sickness absences decrease in the long-term.

The ONS also noted that the highest rates of sickness absence were reported in women, older workers, those with long-term health conditions, part-time workers and those working in care, leisure, or other service occupations.

It’s therefore important that workers with other responsibilities, like parents who take sick leave for their children’s illnesses, and those with long-term health issues have strong support in place. These people may account for higher sickness rates but there’s good reason for it.

The same can be said for those working in care and other public-facing service occupations, as perhaps they are more susceptible to catching illnesses from other people, but they need to be able to recover fully from illnesses before going back into work to ensure they don’t need to take additional sick leave.

A lot of this is common sense, but I think it can be easy for businesses in the region who are shortstaffed and struggling with recruitment to forget that the long-term impacts outweigh the short-term ones.

It’s for these reasons that all businesses should have clear hybrid working policies as well as sickness policies so employees are supported. Clear boundaries between work and rest need to be made, too, so that people aren’t working from home when they should be taking sick leave.

Chamber members can access HR advice and support on these topics and more through their membership.

Not only is this vital for staff wellbeing and retention, but it is also important for potential new employees to know and understand when it comes to recruitment and growth.