Workers 'taking fewer sick days'

Workers are taking fewer days off sick, but staff absence is still costing firms more than £13 billion a year, according to a new report.

The average number of days taken off sick was 6.7 in 2007, compared with seven days a year earlier, while the cost to industry fell by £13.4 billion to £13.2 billion.

The CBI said its study showed that the gulf between absence rates in the public and private sectors grew to a record level, with public sector workers taking an average of nine days off sick compared with 5.8 for those in private firms.

The number of working days lost to absence was 172 million, three million fewer than in 2006, although the CBI said 21 million of these involved workers pulling a "sickie".

The cost to the economy of fake illness was £1.6 billion, with most employers believing some workers called in sick so they could extend a holiday or weekend.

Susan Anderson, the CBI's Director of Human Resources Policy, said: "Everyone agrees that sick people need time off work. But employers face two serious and expensive challenges - dealing with bogus sick days, and helping those with long-term illness return to work when they are fit to do so.

"People who awarded themselves sickies to enjoy the recent sunny weather or to extend a weekend away are acting unfairly, leaving their colleagues to pick up their work, and costing taxpayers and employers over a billion pounds a year.

"A fresh, proactive approach to managing long-term absence could help stem the flow onto incapacity benefit - which currently costs £12.5 billion a year for 2.5 million people - and help employers to retain skilled employees, many of whom will find that work can improve their health and outlook."

TUC general secretary Brendan Barber commented: "This survey shows that sickness absence in the UK has fallen once again and is now at one of its lowest levels in recent years.

"The figures smash the myth that Britain is a nation of shirkers, with workers always on the lookout for an excuse to pull a 'sickie'. It's time employers stopped blaming workers for taking time off sick and instead tried working with unions to see how their workplaces can be made more healthy."

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