One third of sick days not due to ill health 

More than a third of days taken off work through illness have nothing to do with ill health, a survey published today shows. 

The average worker takes three sick days off a year when they are perfectly healthy, at a cost of over £4bn to industry, according to the study by the Institute of Personnel and Development. 

It found the most common reasons given for absenteeism through illness were minor complaints such as colds and headaches. For non-manual workers, the second most cited reason was stress; for manual workers it was back pain. 

On average, the annual cost of sick days is almost £500 for each employee, or at least £13bn to the British economy. 

The study of almost 1,700 organisations, employing a total of just under 2m staff, said the main reasons given by employers for increases in sickness absence were changes in workforce morale and workload. 

The average level of sickness absence was 4.1% of working time - the equivalent of 9.3 lost working days - with the highest levels in larger organisations, including the NHS. 

About 90% of employers see sickness absence as "a significant or very significant" cost to their business. 

Diane Sinclair, who carried out the survey, said: "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." 

But a third of employers believe that the level of absenteeism in their organisations has decreased over the past two years, compared with a fifth who claim to have seen an increase. 

Meanwhile, more than 90% of larger companies with a staff of over 2,000 have a written policy on sick days and 80% of respondents said they liked to interview workers on their return to work. 

The priority that is being given to flexible working practices such as job-sharing, flexi-time and self-management was felt by a third of respondents to have been effective in reducing time off through sickness. 

Ms Sinclair said: "With around one sick leave day in every three being taken for reasons other than illness, employers clearly need to focus on people management and development strategies in order to tackle absence. 

"Direct approaches such as return-to-work interviews and proper record keeping are important. 

"And more flexible, family-friendly policies are likely to be key to achieving this goal." 

The Guardian Monday May 15, 2000