The EEF has called on the government to step up its efforts to tackle the problem of sickness absence.
The overall rate of sickness absence has not changed in the last couple of years. It remains at 2.2%, but the average number of days lost to sickness has increased slightly to 5.1 per employee.
More than 50% of organisations are now concerned about short-term illness and the lack of motivation amongst employees. Despite this, only 5% of firms keep an eye on the cost of presenteeism.
Professor Sayeed Khan, the EEF’s chief medical adviser, said the UK economy is still struggling to grow and we need to do everything possible to improve its performance. As part of that, employers should be helping their workforce improve their health and get back to work as soon as possible.
He went on to say that the government needs to adopt a fresh approach to address some of the deep-rooted problems such as back pain and stress. In particular, he called on the coalition to instil the fit note culture into the medical profession and make sure companies understand how the fit note works.
Nearly 60% of organisations report that the fit note has not made any sort of difference to their company. The EEF believes this emphasises the need to provide more education on its benefits, including introducing the electronic fit note at the first possible opportunity this year.
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Image: Sick by Leonid Mamchenkov
