Rising levels of work ill health and sickness are costing UK businesses billions every year and demand a radical new approach, a think-tank has argued.
An analysis by the think-tank the Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR) has suggested that the annual ‘hidden’ cost of employee sickness has risen by £30bn since 2018.
It has also laid out a three-pronged plan for government, including calling for tax incentives for companies that invest in workplace health, more focus around measuring health outcomes, and compulsory employer reporting on employee health.
Most of this hidden cost (£25bn) is from lower productivity, with only £5bn because of a rise in sick days, the IPPR has said.
Employees now lose the equivalent of 44 days’ productivity on average due to working through sickness, up from 35 days in 2018, and lose a further 6.7 days taking sick leave, up from 3.7 days in 2018, it has added.
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Workers in the UK are among the least likely to take sick days, especially compared to other OECD and European countries. However, they are more likely to persevere at work through sickness, which can have a productivity cost.
With the right support in an appropriate job, people with some health conditions can benefit from good work, the think-tank has argued.
But when compelled to work despite being ill – because of poor work culture, limited access to sick pay, financial insecurity or other factors – employees can slow their own recovery time, increase their risk of further sickness later, and spread infectious illnesses to others. All these, in turn, lower productivity, which is bad for business and bad for workers.
Working through poor health is more common among those from marginalised ethnic groups, people in lower-quality jobs and workers lacking formal qualifications. For example, those who are Black or Asian are twice as likely to work through sickness compared to those who are white British, all else being equal, the IPPR argued.
The paper, Healthy industry, prosperous economy, is the final interim report from the cross-party IPPR Commission on Health and Prosperity. It has argued that health and work can interact in a vicious or virtuous circle – but that we have the former in Britain today.
Polling for the think tank by YouGov, of 2,041 people, also found that 74% believed the government should be doing more to support our health. The IPPR is as a result proposing a three-fold approach for government:
- Incentives. A new tax incentive for companies that commit to significant improvements in the health of their workforce, including the security, flexibility and pay of their staff, focused on SMEs.
- Regulation. A new ‘do no harm’ duty for employers, regulating them on health outcomes, not just safety inputs.
- Investment. New compulsory reporting on worker health – modelled on climate emissions reporting – to help private investors differentiate between health-orientated and health-harming businesses.
Dr Jamie O’Halloran, report co-author and senior research fellow at IPPR, said: “Too often, UK workers are being pressured to work through sickness when that’s not appropriate – harming their wellbeing, and reducing productivity. This can be because of a bad workplace culture, poor management, financial insecurity or just weak understanding of long-term conditions among UK employers.
“Our demonstration of ‘hidden’ productivity costs of working through sickness should catalyse a change in approach. We should strive to make sure the work we do is good for our health, that we have the time to recover when we need it, and to ensure businesses both contribute to and benefit from population health. This would protect workers, boost profits and deliver growth,” he added.
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