IPD survey shows that one in three "sick days" has nothing to do with ill health

Citation

(2000), "IPD survey shows that one in three "sick days" has nothing to do with ill health", Leadership & Organization Development Journal, Vol. 21 No. 6. https://doi.org/10.1108/lodj.2000.02221fab.001

IPD survey shows that one in three "sick days" has nothing to do with ill health

IPD survey shows that one in three "sick days" has nothing to do with ill health

Keywords Absenteeism, Costs, Morale, Sickness

Just over a third of all sickness absence, amounting to over three days per employee per year at a cost of over £4 billion, has nothing to do with genuine ill health. On average, the cost of sickness absence is nearly £500 per employee per year, or at least £13 billion to the UK economy.

In its first ever survey into sickness absence in the workplace the Institute of Personnel and Development (IPD) surveyed 1,684 organisations together employing just under two million people. The average level of sickness absence in the survey was 4.1 per cent of working time (or 9.3 working days lost), though higher levels were found in large organisations and those in the NHS and food, drink and tobacco industry. Ninety per cent of employers see sickness absence as a significant or very significant cost to their business.

The most common reasons given for time off work due to sickness were minor complaints such as colds and headaches. However, for non-manual workers the second most cited reason was stress and for manual workers back pain. Changes in workforce morale and/or workload are cited by employers as the main reasons for increases in sickness absence.

However it is not all doom and gloom. A third of employers consider that the level of absence in their organisation has decreased over the last two years compared with a fifth that have monitored an increase. Moreover many organisations are beginning actively to manage sickness absence. Of larger companies, with 2,000 or more employees, 91 per cent have a written policy on absence. Return to work interviews are seen as being particularly useful in managing absence levels with eight out of ten respondents using them. Managers receive training in absence handling in 46 per cent of organisations and many firms (35 per cent) offer stress counselling or employee assistance programmes. Additional methods used to control absence are health promotion programmes (offered by 30 per cent of organisations), rehabilitation programmes (offered by 24 per cent of organisations) and physiotherapy services (offered by 11 per cent of organisations).

Perhaps of most significance is the priority being given to flexible working practices such as job-sharing, flexitime, self-management etc which was felt by a third of respondents to have been effective in reducing time off through sickness.

As Diane Sinclair, Adviser in Employment Relations, says, "Sickness absence costs the UK economy a vast amount each year – a conservative estimate is £485.60 for each employee each year. Organisations which have poor management, low morale and increased work pressures will see their employees take increasing amounts of time off as sick leave."