People who are able to work at home have recorded the UK’s lowest sickness absence rates, analysis has found.
Among other key findings by Ulster University’s Economic Policy Centre, which compared absence rates across the UK, was that the sickness rate for workers in Wales had increased to 3.6% of working days between 2019 and 2022.
More workers in Northern Ireland called in sick in 2022 than in any of the previous eight years, the study also revealed.
In England the sickness rate was 2.5% in 2022; Scotland’s was 3% and Northern Ireland’s was 2.7%.
Overall, said Sickness Absence Lessons for Northern Ireland Businesses and Managers, UK staff took an average six sick days in 2022 (2.7%) compared with 4.2 days (1.9%) in 2019.
The lowest absence rates in the UK (1.4%) were among workers who were able to work at home.
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The report said the top reasons across the UK for calling in sick were accidents, poisoning, infectious diseases and skin disorders, accounting for 26%. Minor aliments, including coughs, colds and gastrointestinal illnesses, accounted for just under a quarter of days lost (24%).
Senior economist at the policy centre Gillian Martin said the increased rate of workers being absent was because many people had a long-term health condition. The ageing population was another factor.
She said that in Northern Ireland, for example, in 2022, 5.1 million days were lost due to sickness, up from 3.8 million in 2019, adding that the rise in long-term conditions and the ageing population meant absences would be a “lingering” issue.
Those working in health and social work had the highest absence rate of 4.2% in 2022 across the UK.
Workers in information and communication had the lowest absence rate of 1.4%, which the report suggested was linked to workers being able to work from home. The highest increase in sickness across all sectors was in the accommodation and food sector which rose to 2.9% in 2022, an increase of 1.6% since 2019.
In September snapshot research conducted in March-April 2023 by the CIPD and Simplyhealth suggested that UK employees were absent for 7.8 days on average over the past year, two days more than the pre-pandemic sickness absence rate of 5.8 days.
Stress was found by the CIPD study to be a significant factor for both short- and long-term absence, with more than 76% of respondents reporting stress-related absence in their organisation in the past year. Heavy workloads were the most common cause of stress-related absence (67%), followed by management style (37%).
The Ulster University report made several recommendations for businesses, managers and policymakers in Northern Ireland including the need to improve management’s knowledge of how to support employee’s health and wellbeing in the workplace. This, it said, could help reduce absences, particularly those caused by non-medical or work-related problems.
It added that businesses should record absences to internally understand the impact for their business and create a sickness absence and wellbeing policy outlining the process of sickness absences for both managers and employees.
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