Personnel Today
  • OHW+
  • Join
  • Resources
    • Clinical governance
    • Disability
    • Ergonomics
    • Health surveillance
    • OH employment law
    • OH service delivery
    • Research
    • Return to work and rehabilitation
    • Sickness absence management
    • Wellbeing and health promotion
  • Conditions
    • Mental health
    • Musculoskeletal disorders
    • Blood pressure
    • Cancer
    • Cardiac
    • Dementia
    • Diabetes
    • Respiratory
    • Stroke
  • CPD
  • Webinars
  • OHW Awards
  • Jobs
  • Personnel Today

Personnel Today

Register
Log in
Personnel Today
  • OHW+
  • Join
  • Resources
    • Clinical governance
    • Disability
    • Ergonomics
    • Health surveillance
    • OH employment law
    • OH service delivery
    • Research
    • Return to work and rehabilitation
    • Sickness absence management
    • Wellbeing and health promotion
  • Conditions
    • Mental health
    • Musculoskeletal disorders
    • Blood pressure
    • Cancer
    • Cardiac
    • Dementia
    • Diabetes
    • Respiratory
    • Stroke
  • CPD
  • Webinars
  • OHW Awards
  • Jobs
  • Personnel Today

Latest NewsHR practiceMental healthSickness absenceWellbeing

Staff who take extended sick leave more likely to die

by Guy Logan 3 Oct 2008
by Guy Logan 3 Oct 2008

Employees who take extended sick leave are more likely to die than healthier co-workers, a study has found.


Researchers at the University College London studied 6,500 civil servants and found that those who had taken a period of sick leave for longer than seven days had a 66% higher risk of an early death.


They also found that those who had taken long spells of sick leave for psychiatric reasons such as depression were twice as likely to die as employees who did not take long periods of sick leave.


Study leader Jenny Head said it was an “unexpected finding”.


“We didn’t study the reason, but it might be people who tend to be depressed might be less likely to seek help from a doctor, or being prone to depression could affect your cancer prognosis, or depression might affect adherence to treatment,” Head said.


“It would be useful for this information to be collected because we could identify groups with a high risk of serious health problems”.


Sickness records of employees who worked in Whitehall between 1985 and 1988 showed nearly 300 people died over the next two decades. The 30% of people who had one absence of at least seven days off work were 66% more likely to suffer a premature death than those without any periods of sick leave.


The highest mortality risk was seen in those who had been off work with heart disease, stroke or related conditions, who had more than four times the risk of death than those who had no long sickness absences.


Last month, a survey found nearly three-quarters (72%) of UK employees go to work despite feeling so ill they could legitimately stay at home.

Avatar
Guy Logan

previous post
HRD and Payroll Solutions launch new HR courses
next post
Peter Mandelson returns to Cabinet as business secretary after exile in Europe

You may also like

Royal Mail staff vote for more strike action

17 Aug 2022

Workers worse off as inflation hits double figures

17 Aug 2022

Harrods threatens to use agency staff if strike...

17 Aug 2022

Personnel Today Awards 2022 shortlist: Performance Management Award

17 Aug 2022

Police officers who are violent towards women should...

17 Aug 2022

A third consider job move due to cost...

17 Aug 2022

Government plans to slash Civil Service redundancy pay

16 Aug 2022

Real wages fall at sharpest rate on record

16 Aug 2022

Degrees less important to employers with entry-level vacancies

16 Aug 2022

Employees going into office just 1.5 days a...

15 Aug 2022

  • 6 reasons why work-based learning is better than traditional training PROMOTED | A recent Fortune/Deloitte survey found that 71% of CEOs are anticipating that this year’s biggest business disrupter...Read more
  • Strengthening Scotland’s public services through virtual recruiting PROMOTED | This website is Scotland's go-to place for job seekers looking to apply for roles in public services...Read more
  • What’s next for L&D? Enter Alchemist… PROMOTED | It’s time to turn off the tedious and get ready for interactive and immersive learning experiences...Read more
  • Simple mistakes are blighting the onboarding experience PROMOTED | The onboarding of new hires is a company’s best chance...Read more

PERSONNEL TODAY

About us
Contact us
Browse all HR topics
Email newsletters
Content feeds
Cookies policy
Privacy policy
Terms and conditions

JOBS

Personnel Today Jobs
Post a job
Why advertise with us?

EVENTS & PRODUCTS

The Personnel Today Awards
The RAD Awards
Employee Benefits
Forum for Expatriate Management
OHW+
Whatmedia

ADVERTISING & PR

Advertising opportunities
Features list 2022

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Instagram
  • Linkedin


© 2011 - 2022 DVV Media International Ltd

Personnel Today
  • OHW+
  • Join
  • Resources
    • Clinical governance
    • Disability
    • Ergonomics
    • Health surveillance
    • OH employment law
    • OH service delivery
    • Research
    • Return to work and rehabilitation
    • Sickness absence management
    • Wellbeing and health promotion
  • Conditions
    • Mental health
    • Musculoskeletal disorders
    • Blood pressure
    • Cancer
    • Cardiac
    • Dementia
    • Diabetes
    • Respiratory
    • Stroke
  • CPD
  • Webinars
  • OHW Awards
  • Jobs
  • Personnel Today