Evaluation by thinktank the Institute for Public Coverage Analysis (IPPR) reveals the ‘hidden value’ of office illness within the UK has now elevated to greater than £100 billion a yr. For context, that’s across the similar as manufacturers like Tesla, Pepsi and even Disney make in a yr.
However extra alarming than that determine is what it was simply six years in the past. IPPR’s analysis exhibits that, in 2018, UK employers’ annual invoice for illness was 30% lower than in 2024.
What’s fascinating about this discovering is that solely £5 billion of this whole was right down to staff taking extra sick days. The IPPR experiences a “staggering” 85% of the rise was right down to decrease productiveness at work.
What’s happening?
Traditionally, labour productiveness within the UK has grown by round 2% annually. Nevertheless, because the 2008 recession, it has risen way more slowly. In 2024, UK productiveness is lower than half of what it was in 1997. America, Germany and France, all have a lot larger ranges of productiveness than the UK does.
The the reason why the UK has such low productiveness are advanced and embrace issues like UK investments, however we do know that employee wellbeing has been a big contributing issue. For those who had been to overlay the graphs representing UK employee wellbeing and UK productiveness, you’ll see that as individuals’s psychological well being deteriorated, their productiveness dropped too.
For the reason that mid Nineties, the quantity of individuals with frequent psychological well being issues went up by greater than 20%; the identical time that the OECD says our productiveness worsened too.
Three actions to deal with rising office illness prices
If we’re to make even the smallest dent in these UK office illness prices, we have now to do three issues:
- Improve sick pay
- Improve assist for these working remotely
- Get higher at eradicating the stigma related to ailing well being.
For those who had been to overlay the graphs representing UK employee wellbeing and UK productiveness, you’ll see that as individuals’s psychological well being deteriorated, their productiveness dropped too.
1. Too ailing to work, too poor to not
In its new report, the IPPR says that staff within the UK now lose the equal of 44 days of productiveness due to working whereas sick and that that is the most important contributing issue to the rise in prices for employers. This yr, 75% of staff stated they haven’t taken day without work when they’re ailing. Employees within the UK are among the many least probably of all of the OECD nations to truly take their sick days.
A part of the rationale for individuals not taking sick days when they’re ailing is the woefully insufficient ranges of sick pay within the UK and the truth that greater than one million UK staff are unable to assert Statutory Sick Pay (SSP) attributable to their low earnings. This creates a scenario the place somebody is just too ailing to work and too poor to not. It additionally creates public well being points permitting the unfold of viruses by those that don’t have any possibility however to go to work whereas ailing.
The UK has a few of the lowest charges of sick pay in Europe and even in most elements of the world. SSP within the UK is in want of pressing reform and the proof continues to mount that larger ranges of sick pay truly result in much less absences.
2. Working from house is driving hidden illness ranges
I imagine one of many greatest causes behind a rise in presenteeism in recent times has been the mass hybrid working motion. A new research by Ulster College’s Financial Coverage Centre confirms this.
When somebody works from residence, they’re much less more likely to take sick days. I’ve had crew members inform me they aren’t going to return to the workplace as a result of they don’t really feel properly, so will go online at residence as a substitute. I met with a buyer the opposite week who dialled in to the in-person assembly as a result of she had Covid. Individuals really feel obliged to work when they’re sick however working from residence, and that’s an issue.
Whereas residence staff could really feel higher in a position to handle their illness and nonetheless work when at residence, there’s proof that not taking sick days is worse for each staff and employers in the long term. Encouraging staff to take simply at some point of illness at the beginning of sickness is much extra more likely to forestall long term sickness.
When somebody works from residence, they’re much less more likely to take sick days.
3. Stigma
There continues to be a stigma round taking sick days. With all of the discuss of supporting psychological well being within the office and the cries of “its alright to not be okay”, practically 90% of staff say they labored by means of illness during the last yr (this creator included). A large 65% of staff say they expertise “stress, anxiousness, guilt or worry” when requesting sick time. I think about the document numbers of staff off ailing in 2024 can also be truly including to those emotions.
In 2024, half of UK adults nonetheless imagine there’s an excessive amount of disgrace related to psychological well being situations. Even when the general public say they settle for the medical or genetic nature of psychological well being and the necessity for therapy, they nonetheless maintain largely unfavorable views of these with poor psychological well being. This yr, 64% of us say we are going to keep away from speaking about our psychological well being with individuals. These practices are contributing to creating us worse.
Prevention is vital to tackling office illness prices
If we’re to enhance the UK’s productiveness, we have now to do a greater job of eradicating the boundaries to early intervention, like sick pay. Early intervention additionally means encouraging staff to be open about their emotions in order that we are able to intervene earlier than issues worsen. Moreover, early intervention can also be about making certain individuals take a sick day when signs come up, in order that what might be simply at some point of illness doesn’t turn out to be 5.
Taking proactive steps previous to and on the onset of sickness is supported by heavy proof as an efficient technique for minimising long-term well being points and office disruption. The typical value of illness and presenteeism to the UK employer is £71,000 a yr and rising. If we don’t act now, by 2030 this determine might be properly over £100,000.
