New figures suggest the number of sick leave days taken by UK workers is at its highest level in 15 years. Does this mean we’re in poorer health and, if so, what’s keeping us away from the workplace?
A couple of years ago, COVID would have been the obvious culprit, but is it still to blame? And what can we do to keep people working? Well, the devil's in the data – if you know where to look.
Here's what you need to know.
Are we really taking more days than ever?
The worrying new numbers originate from the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD), an indepdent non-profit human organisation – which has been reporting on sickness at work for over 23 years.
Figures from their latest report were collected from the human resources (HR) departments of 918 organisations and cover a total of 6.5 million UK workers. They show that the average employee took just under eight days of sick leave in the past year – two more than pre-pandemic in 2019 and more than in any year since 2008.
The Office of National Statistics (ONS), however, puts the average number of sick days closer to six, drawing from telephone surveys of 100,000 people. But the ONS data also shows a sharp rise in sick leave compared to pre-pandemic years.
Rachel Suff, Senior Policy Adviser at the CIPD, says looking at both sets of data can provide a more nuanced picture, though she notes that the CIPD figures cover a “significant section" of the UK workforce.
Asked if the figures mean we’re actually getting sicker, Parth Patel, a Senior Research Fellow at the Institute for Public Policy Research, told BBC Science Focus: “It’s certainly a barometer for something not being quite right in our society.”
Broadly, he adds, there are two explanations: either there really is more sickness, or for some reason people are now more likely to take sick leave than they were before.
If anything, though, the CIPD figures seem to underestimate sickness rates, as levels of presenteeism (working while you’re sick) are also up. Plus, they only consider workers outside of the workplace, a record number of people – over 2.5 million – are now economically inactive due to long-term illness, according to ONS.
What’s keeping us away from the workplace?
ONS data for 2022 shows ‘minor illnesses’ have risen substantially in the past year, although they are only now returning to pre-pandemic levels.
So-called ‘other’ reasons for being off work – which include COVID, plus accidents, poisonings and respiratory conditions – are also much higher than in 2019.
The CIPD data, however, tells a slightly more complex story by breaking down the reasons for sick leave into short- and long-term illness and asking companies to report the top three reasons in each category.
Looked at in this light, the data reveals the increasing impact of mental health issues in the workplace, with 63 per cent of organisations listing mental health in their top three reasons for illness lasting longer than a month, and 37 per cent listing stress.
“Mental health has been an increasing cause for concern for many years,” says Suff. "But the last three years have been really challenging for people.”
She cites the long tail of the pandemic and the cost of living crisis as factors affecting people’s wellbeing, but points to data from the report suggesting that heavy workload is the reason most often given for stress-related absence.
Trying to tease out how COVID plays into all of this is by no means straightforward, partly due to low levels of testing at the moment. Whilst the CIPD data includes a separate category for the virus, it could easily be mistaken for other minor illnesses such as colds or flu, which are listed by 94 per cent of organisations as a main cause of short-term illness.
Any long-term impacts of COVID are even harder to decipher. But, according to Patel, it’s unreasonable to think that the big spike in sick leave is all due to COVID. “I think that’s obviously not true,” he said.
So, what needs to change?
According to Suff, it’s crucial that organisations get a better handle on what’s causing sickness absences, not just in the general population, but among their own staff.
“The pandemic and mental health – they’re all part of the bigger picture,” she says. “But you’ve got to drill down into what’s going on in your organisation, look at all the data and then see what you can do to support people better.”
About our experts
Rachel Suff leads the CIPD’s public policy work for employment relations and health and wellbeing. She leads the CIPD’s annual Health and wellbeing at work survey report and represents the CIPD on key Government and external advisory groups, such as the Work and Health Unit Employer Engagement Forum.
Parth Patel leads the IPPR's work on democracy and politics, where he studies the sway of underpowered communities over the course of public policy, the contours of social democracy in the 21st century and policies to reduce health inequality.
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