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British staff pull the most sickies in Europe
Added: 2010-07-26 15:21:06.0Do you ever wonder whether your employee is actually ill when they call in sick? You could have reason to be doubtful as new research shows that one in five employees in the UK say that they have taken sick days for personal reasons in the past, rather than because they were ill.
The study, conducted by AON Consulting, surveyed 7,500 workers across Europe and the results do not make pretty reading for UK business owners. As well as many people feigning illness for personal reasons, 1 in 8 British workers also admitted to lying about being ill in order to look after a member of their family. This year’s World Cup would not have improved matters for employers.
As well as the detrimental effect that sick days can have on businesses, according to research by the CBI, sick days cost the UK economy £2.5billion a year. A considerable amount considering the current deficit that that UK faces.
Compared with the rest of Europe, workers in the UK are the second most likely to feign illness to take a sick day. Spanish employees are the worst offenders. Workers in Norway and Demark the least likely to ‘pull a sickie’.
Commenting on the findings, Peter Abelskamp, Director of health and benefits EMEA, at Aon Consulting said: “A billion hours taken as fictitious sick leave across Europe and the associated financial cost for businesses are probably conservative figures, considering the number of people who don’t admit to faking sickness and the fact that these costs only account for direct wages. Employers would be well advised to tackle the issues of sickness and workplace absence, as these seriously impact efficiency and hit their balance sheets.
56% of workers say they would not feel forced to take a day as sick leave if they could just be honest and have access to flexible working hours or ‘social days’. Of course employers should also not ignore the fact that 15% of people say that more interesting work would keep them in the office.”
What can employers do?
From an employer’s point of view, suspecting that an employee is feigning illness is not an easy situation to be in. Wading in with accusations is more likely to create more problems than to resolve the situation. There are a couple of things employers can do though to ensure that the situation is handled in the correct manner:
Sickness Policy
The first step than an employer can do is to ensure that they have a compliant, fair and up to date sickness policy. Do your staff know what theri obligations are to you when they are ill? Do they know that they may need to provide a fit note? The sickness policy, usually found in the staff handbook can take care of this and let them know how the situation will be handled company-wide.
Read more about the Cleardocs staff handbook.
Not sure about how fit notes work? Listen to our webinar about fit notes and find out why you need to make sure your paperwork is updated.
Return to Work form
The knowledge that a short interview will take place when the employee returns to work may help to curb absences. Typically this would take the form of a return to work form that can be downloaded from Cleardocs for free. Read more about the Return to Work form.
Alternatively, if you have any concerns about the sickness policy you are currently using and are unsure whether it is up to date, call Cleardocs on 0845 474 0372. We will be happy to discuss your requirements with you.
The content of this blog is not legal advice and should not be relied on as such, or used instead of seeking legal advice.
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