Business News
‘Pulling a sickie’ costs businesses billions
PwC have put together research findings from 2000 companies to culminate in an estimated 10 unauthorised days off from work are taken by UK workers each year, with a price tag of nearly £32bn. The absenteeism rate in the UK is on a par with that of Western Europe which came in with a close 9.7 days, but we have come out red faced against the USA and Asia, who suffer with nearly half that amount only.
The £32bn price tag is deemed only a conservative one by PwC HR consulting partner, Richard Phelps. He has highlighted that this only brings forward to costs incurred directly and that there is still yet to consider loss to productivity and replacement and gap fillers in these instances.
Phelps explains, “Absenteeism is a malaise for British business. With sickness accounting for the lion’s share of absence, the question for employers is what can be done to improve health, morale and motivation. The line between sickie and sickness can be blurred, with disenchantment at work sometimes exacerbating medical conditions or preventing a speedy return.”
The research conducted also flagged up significant trends across varying industries as to the levels of absenteeism suffered, as the examples figures below show:
• Technology – Lowest rates – average 7.6 days
• Banking and Finance – average 7.8 days
• Retail and Leisure – average 11.5 days
• Public Sector Industries – Highest rate – average 12.2 days
Phelps also highlighted the issue of investing in the health of companies workers, in light of the fact that whilst the perception of the US working to a culture of longer hours and short holidays, the absenteeism rate there is substantially lower, and maybe the UK should follow suit, stating that,
“US firms tend to take greater responsibility for staff well-being, whether providing gyms in the workplace or access to counsellors.”
To this he added that staff engagement was “arguably the biggest part of the battle” in conjunction with clear structure and policies to make unscheduled leave less appealing and to not penalise those with a genuine need.
