According to the latest figures from the Office for National Statistics the number of sick days fell by 131 million days last year to 4.4 days per worker. This means that sickness absence at work has fallen by nearly a third compared to a decade ago, when the average worker took 7.3 days off sick per year. There could be a number of reasons for this downward trend, and certainly a key one is that employers are starting to get tougher on managing absence. The pressure to reduce costs has meant that employers can no longer tolerate the costs of absence that they might have done in the past. Prudent employers have clear absence management policies, which they make sure are applied. These involve a number of actions that can help to reduce absence and, therefore costs. If you don’t currently have an absence management policy, you might well be losing out on some of the benefits that can result. However, it would be wrong to think that better absence management accounts for all the improvement. There are concerns that ‘presenteeism’ – where staff come into work when they are genuinely ill – is on the increase.

1. For media information please contact Jenny Green @ Smart Arts on
07545 696713 / 01484 685544 or
email jenny@smartarts.co.uk
Advisory Article
Are You Seeing the Benefit of the National Fall in Absence Levels?
According to the latest figures from the Office for National Statistics the
number of sick days fell by 131 million days last year to 4.4 days per
worker.
This means that sickness absence at work has fallen by nearly a third
compared to a decade ago, when the average worker took 7.3 days
off sick per year.
There are also some interesting facts behind the headline figures:
• Private sector workers retain the crown for having the best attendance records – sickness rates
here are running at 1.8 per cent compared to 2.9 per cent in the public sector.
• Workers aged 16-24 actually took the fewest number of days off ill.
• Men were less likely to be ill than women – with women 42 per cent more likely to be off ill than
men.
• While sickness absence was found to rise with age, the ONS statistics revealed it starts to decline
again after people past beyond what was retirement age (65)
• Although the overall rate of sickness is down, more working days are being lost to stress,
depression and anxiety – up to 15.8 million days lost in 2013 from 11.8 million days lost in 2010.
There could be a number of reasons for this downward trend, and certainly a key one is that employers
are starting to get tougher on managing absence. The pressure to reduce costs has meant that
employers can no longer tolerate the costs of absence that they might have done in the past.
Prudent employers have clear absence management policies, which they make sure are applied. These
involve a number of actions that can help to reduce absence and, therefore costs, including:
• Requiring employees to make regular contact during their absence
• Holding ‘return to work’ interviews
• Training managers to manage absence
• Maintaining and monitoring absence records – and acting on the information they provide
• Providing support to enable staff to return to work as soon as possible following illness
• Establishing links with occupational health providers and/or GPs.

2. For media information please contact Jenny Green @ Smart Arts on
07545 696713 / 01484 685544 or
email jenny@smartarts.co.uk
f you don’t currently have an absence management policy, you might well be losing out on some of the
benefits that can result.
However, it would be wrong to think that better absence management accounts for all the
improvement. There are concerns that ‘presenteeism’ – where staff come into work when they are
genuinely ill – is on the increase.
If you require assistance with absence management for your business, visitJCS HR visit http://www.jcs-
hr.co.uk or call 01484 602708.
You can also follow Julie at http://www.twitter.com/@HRJulie.
-ends-
Notes to editors:
• Julie Sykes has worked in the human resources industry for over 25 years and established her own
consultancy in 2002.
• JCS HR Consulting is based in Huddersfield and services Yorkshire and Manchester areas.
• JCS HR provides consultancy across all sectors including manufacturing, government, media,
financial services, medical and engineering.
• JCS HR has provided consultancy for groups of up to 1000 people.