Seventy-two per cent of staff soldier on at work when they could legitimately take sick leave so as not to let down their colleagues, according to a survey by health insurance provider Axa PPP. How do these findings relate to Axa's other survey - the annual survey they do with the Confederation of British Industry (CBI) - which shows that sickness absence is costing the UK economy about £13 billion a year? It seems to me that while staff throwing sickies are costing employers, their colleagues are saving them a fortune by coming in and no doubt spreading their infections to everyone else.
How do you tackle this phenomenon? Well the survey gives a hint in showing that some staff are worried that their sickness absence record could be used against them by managers or that they cannot afford to take any time off for fear of not getting their job done. These are issues for managers to tackle. HR might want to consider training or some other way to change management culture.
What about OH practitioners? Some will no doubt take the view that they should just ignore it - it's a management problem. It's a response I see quite a lot on the profession's chat forum. I'm not sure if this attitude will be viable in future though. Could it be that if OH is to remain relevant it will have to extend its responsibility towards advising on the causes of sick leave or low morale?