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Unauthorised staff sickness 'costs SMEs billions'

Published On 10 April 2007 at 12:05:22

Staff sickness is costing UK businesses - including many small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) - over £13 billion a year, new research suggests.

Data gathered by the Confederation of British Industry (CBI) found that the average British worker took seven days off sick in 2006, meaning that 175 million working days were lost last year.

While long-term absence accounts for 43 per cent of all work days lost, the CBI expressed concern that short-term 'sickies' were also having a detrimental affect on SMEs.

Employers suspect that 12 per cent of all short-term staff absences are not for genuine reasons, meaning that businesses lose 21 million days to 'sickies', at an annul cost of £1.6 billion.

"We've all just enjoyed the four day Easter weekend, but some people think they have a right to use 'sickies' to take long weekends or extend holidays as they please," said Susan Anderson, the CBI's director of human resources policy.

"Unauthorised absence puts colleagues under unfair pressure, and loses employers and taxpayers well over a billion pounds."

Recent figures from insurer More Than show that one in three UK workers have lied about taking time off work to take a pet to the vet - a move that costs businesses over £19 million per year.

 

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