Fewer Sick Leave Days But Greater Risk Of Death

Contrary to what the media and the CBI would have us believe, UK employees take about two days less sick leave per year than their European counterparts, according a major study of absence levels.

The Pan-European Health and Benefits Report by HR consultancy Mercer surveyed nearly 800 companies across 24 European countries.

The data shows that, on average, European employees are absent 7.4 days per year, while workers in the UK take an average of 5.5 days off sick per year.

The highest absence levels were reported by employers in Bulgaria, Portugal, Norway and the Czech Republic the lowest by respondents in Turkey (4.6 days).

Firms also reported that about three-quarters of total lost working time was due to short, frequent absences and about one-quarter due to long-term disabilities. Very large organisations generally reported higher levels of lost time from long-term disability relative to small organisations.

A fifth of respondents believe that, since 2005, the average number of sick days taken per employee has increased.
Musculoskeletal conditions were identified by 78% of respondents as the cause of most long-term absences.
In a comparable US survey by Mercer, respondents reported an average of 5.1 sick days per year.

You can download the survey here

Meanwhile, a study has found that Employees who take extended sick leave are more likely to die than healthier colleagues.

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

Source: Personnel Today

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