Worker absence reaches 20-year high

Worker absence reaches 20-year high

New figures from the ONS show that 185.6 million days were lost to sick leave during 2022, around 2.6% of the total, up from 2.2% in 2021. On average, employees were each absent for 5.7 days. Women employees are slightly more likely to take sick leave (with a 3.2% absence rate), compared with men (2.2%).

Getting sicker

From the information provided, employees most often gave reasons of minor illnesses such as flu, diarrhoea, coughs and colds.

The ONS suggests that the main reasons are these kinds of minor causes, as well as muscle pains and mental health. Mental health was the most common cause of absence in 2021, but has been overtaken by respiratory illnesses in the past year (with the continuing impact of the Covid-19 virus). More than half of workers experiencing two or more periods of sick leave due to mental illness were then subsequently found to have left their jobs.

EAP roles

EAPA UK Chair, Karl Bennett said: “The ability of people to take time off for sickness is an important part of the modern employer/employee relationship. Sometimes we all need that bit of time to look after ourselves and recuperate — it’s just the only way.

“What HR need to be more concerned with is helping staff avoid longer-term conditions that lead to extended absences and losing their experienced people. Evidence has repeatedly shown the deep-rooted connections between stress and psychological issues and physical illness. Promoted and used in the right ways, EAPs can play a critical role in opening up conversations about illness and the, often complex, root causes, the combinations of worries about finances, housing, relationships etc, that lead to more vulnerability to long-term conditions.”