Are Us Brits Really That Unwell?

According to recent research from Aon Consulting UK, employees take more than 35 million sick days a year for personal reasons rather than for a genuine illness.

Of those surveyed it was found that for the last day an individual took off work over 20% although giving illness as the reason for absence were not genuinely ill. Whilst only half of the respondents took their last sick day for genuine physical or mental illness.

Interestingly over a third of employees said they would take less time off work if their organisation made flexible working provisions or for 28% if their was a substantial cash advantage.

Peter Abelskamp of Aon Consulting said: “Over 35 million days taken as fictitious sick leave is costing the UK economy millions and these are probably conservative figures, considering the number of people who do not admit to faking sickness.”

Theses issues of sickness and absence in the workplace have to be tackled head on if an organisation is to operate efficiently and keep the balance sheet in check. Costs can mount very quickly if it is seen to be acceptable to take the odd day of additional leave with a fictitious illness.

Whether a business leader or an employee, with the UK economy still very weak it is important we all do our best to help grow our economy out of these difficult times.