London (Parliament Politics Magazine) – The undercover expense of rising workplace sickness in the UK has grown to more than £100bn a year, largely pushed by a loss of productivity amid “staggering” levels of presenteeism, a report cautions.
How Has Workplace Sickness Cost the UK £103 Billion?
Research by the Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR) indicates the cost of staff sickness has increased by £30bn a year to £103bn in 2023. The annual bill was £73bn in 2018, its investigation found. Most increases in price to businesses (£25bn) were because of lower productivity, with workers not fully functioning in the workplace because of an ailment, injury or other health situation. The rest of the cost growth (£5bn) was owing to workers taking more sick days.
How Does Working While Sick Affect Employee Productivity?
Employees now renounce the equivalent of 44 days of productivity on standard because of working through sickness, up from 35 days in 2018, according to the IPPR. Staff lose an additional 6.7 days taking a sick vacation, up from 3.7 days in 2018, the report states. Workers in the UK are among the smallest likely to take sick days, especially compared with other OECD and European countries, experts stated. They are more likely to turn up at work while sick.
What Role Does Presenteeism Play in Rising Sickness Costs?
The huge impact of presenteeism, where staff are incompetent to perform to the best of their abilities and are more likely to make errors, is causing a significant failure in productivity, the IPPR found.
Why Are UK Workers More Likely to Work Through Illness?
Dr Jamie O’Halloran, a senior research fellow at the IPPR, stated: “Too often, UK workers are being pressured to work through sickness when that’s not reasonable – harming their wellbeing and reducing productivity. This can be because of a poor workplace culture, poor management, financial insecurity or just a feeble understanding of long-term conditions among UK employers.
“Our demonstration of a ‘hidden’ productivity cost of working through sickness should catalyse a change in approach. We should aim to make sure the work we do is good for our health, that we have the time to recover when we need it and to ensure businesses both contribute to and benefit from population health. This would cover workers, boost profits and deliver growth.”
How Can Improved Workplace Practices Reduce Sickness Costs?
With the right backing in an appropriate job, people with some health conditions can profit from good work, the report stated. But when forced to work despite being ill employees lose out.
Presenteeism can hinder their recovery, increase the risk of getting sicker later, and distribute infectious illnesses to others – all falling productivity. This is wrong for business and bad for staff, the IPPR concluded.
Tina Woods, the creator and chief executive of Business for Health, stated: “The cost of employee sickness to businesses is staggering, especially the productivity loss of people working through their sickness.”
Working via poor health is more common among those from marginalised ethnic bodies, people in lower-quality employment and staff lacking formal qualifications. Black or Asian workers are twice as likely to work through illness compared to those who are white British, the IPPR stated.