Work and Sick Days

  Posted on 09/11/2018

The Office for National Statistics has reported that the number of days employees are taking off due to sickness is down; on average employees were taking 4.1 sick days off in 2017, compared to 7.1 days off sick in 1993, the year that records began. Minor illnesses such as colds was the main reason why staff were absent from work, with back and joint pain being the second reason. Mental health issues saw a significant rise amongst 25 to 34 year olds, up from 7.2% in 2009, to 9.6% in 2017. Many staff who have minor illnesses are attending work; a quarter of employers said that they are trying to prevent staff attending work during periods of sickness. With the uncertainty of Brexit however, some employees have commented that they feel vulnerable to redundancy and job loss, and so are reluctant to taking time off during periods of minor sickness.