The research revealed that, on average, we each take 5.3 days off per year, a figure that’s fallen from the 6.5 days we took in 2010.
And although only one in five employees sees pulling a sickie as an occasional perk, it’s clear that we’re more adamant than ever not to miss a day.
Let’s face it, with the pressure of increasing workloads, incentives that promise bonuses if we don’t miss a single day or fears of rumours circulating about our commitment to the company, unless you’re on death’s door, you’re going to be dragging yourself in.
The problems of presenteeism
No, we haven’t misspelt presentation. Presenteeism – or the act of showing up at work when you should be at home resting from illness is becoming more common than ever. Employees who feel ill yet feel even more sick at the thought of leaving an empty desk for the day are not only sacrificing their health but they’re putting others at risk too especially if they have a potentially contagious illness.No one can function 100% when they’re not feeling well and the cost of presenteeism to both employees and workers can be significant. Typically, presenteeism is at its highest when times are tough, businesses are downsizing and people are trying to save money and become more efficient.
Add to that the potential to harm or injure yourself if you work on say, a manufacturing line and need to be 100% aware of what’s going on in order to stay safe. Or how would you feel going above and beyond to satisfy an angry customer on the phone when you simply haven’t the strength to lift the receiver?
You’re also contributing to a negative workplace culture since other employees will see that you ‘made it in’ and therefore they will feel like this is a company expectation whatever the circumstances. There isn’t one industry when coming to work in an ill state of health is the solution so it’s really best to stay home.
Neil Carberry, CBI Director of Employment and Skills commented: ‘Clearly, when staff are sick, they should not be in work’.
No one can predict when an employee is going to fall ill but there are steps you can take to calculate the exact impact absence has on your organisation.
Why fit notes are leaving employers feverish
In 2010, the ‘fit note’ regime was brought in to cure sick-note Britain. Yet it seems that instead of reducing the amount of time we take off work, fit notes have actually doubled it.Absence management firm FirstCare revealed recently that workers who requested a fit note during sick leave were absent from work for 48 days on average compared with just 20 days for those who didn’t apply for one.
For a long time, employers have warned that too many employees are being signed off for continuous periods of time without any thought given to what work they could be doing, either by adapting their daily activities or making reasonable adjustments.
Director of FirstCare James Arquette commented: ‘Fit notes are doing the opposite of what they were designed for, and are causing employees to be off work for longer without reducing the likelihood of repeated absence’
Under employment rules, employees are supposed to obtain a doctor’s note if they are absent from work on medical grounds for more than seven working days. However, countless workers don’t adhere to this and since so many SMEs are unaware of the procedure, they just slip through the net.
CBI Director of Employment and Skills Nick Carberry commented: ‘The fit note is designed to stop doctors signing off workers too readily, when staff could get back to work with the right support. It’s clear that it’s fallen short of expectations and to date it not being used much differently to the old sick note system’
Of course, for employees who do need the time to recover appropriately, the additional support and break from work is welcome, yet because of the mounting pressure to monitor so many people, it’s even easier for the system to be abused.
More complex than mind over matter
According to the Absence and Workplace Health Survey, mental health conditions remain the single most widespread cause of long-term absence, with more than half (54%) of employers citing non-work related stress, anxiety and depression as a cause of long-term absence for non-manual workers, and slightly fewer (42%) for manual workers.Carberry commented: ‘These findings show mental health issues are a major cause of absence, so it’s no surprise that nine out of ten businesses are taking positive action to manage mental illness’
