I don’t normally watch morning talk shows but I was staying with friends up north and it was on. They were talking about sick days from work. The source of the discussion was an ONS report from the Times which stated that in 2022 there had been 185.6 million working days lost to sickness. 29% were mild ailments and 25% occurred on Mondays. This was the highest for some time, higher than 2020 for example.

The program discussed many reasons for this especially as the rate of sick days being reported was apparently greatest among young workers. One was that we are now conditioned to follow Government advice and for a long time both during and after the pandemic we had been told to stay off work if we had any symptoms of Covid. Maybe, even though these stringent rules have been relaxed, it has now become a cultural norm, ‘if I’m ill I can’t come in’.

As an employer, I am on the receiving end of these sick days, well not all 185.6 million but a fair few throughout the year and it’s interesting that it’s among the young that the increase in sick days is happening as I can attest. 

Many younger employees are only just making their way into the work area. Are they already conditioned? Or maybe previous workforces were culturally driven to come in regardless without really understanding the longer-term implications of driving themselves too far. Maybe the workforce of today has a greater awareness of those implications as so to have a clearer understanding of ‘self’.

So does the concept of self drive absences related to mental health matters? The report states it is only the fifth biggest reason for absences, behind respiratory problems at number four. I conclude that mental health awareness is much higher than it was but doesn’t drive absence. To my mind it impacts much more on work performance than absence.

One key section of the report is of greatest concern to me, the 29% attributed to mild ailments. What is seen as a mild ailment? In my view, you call in sick because you are too ill to leave the house (the program referenced Luxembourg where it appears you can have up to 89 days off sick but you physically can’t leave the house, and your checked up on and fined if you do!). It amazes me how many are so ill one day that they can’t physically make it in but are fine to do so the next day!

We’ve all pulled sickies (or so-called duvet days) they said. Well, sorry, I haven’t, I’d be too guilty to enjoy the experience, (I’m polishing my halo as I write).

So what is the solution?

The answer is quite simple, process.

Develop your absence policy and stick to it. Every time someone is ill they have a return to work chat and fill out an absence statement, three absences within six months and it triggers an attendance support meeting (ASM) designed to find out, in confidence, if there is anything wrong we can help with. 

Absence should activate an employer’s concern and support, not its disciplinary policy, which should only come after proactive steps have been taken. Adherence to this process reduces the ‘pulling a sickie’ as it makes it far less appealing and yet offers something positive for genuine cases.

The way to address the absence in the workplace is through strict procedures. It will never stop all absences and nor should it, people can get ill, but it will reduce the duvet days.

Now don’t even get me started on the subject of employees who don’t even bother to call in sick in the first place…..