Sickness absence

Sickness absence rates in the UK are the lowest on record, in fact we trail into work even when we are sick. Hazards finds that instead of hounding the sick back to work, it would be more productive all round if employers introduced supportive sickness absence policies.

OHS SOS [Hazards 99, August 2007]
A decent occupational health service (OHS) should is a real asset. It can troubleshoot health problems and it can help rehabilitate the sick or injured and accommodate those with disabilities. But OHS are rare and good ones rarer still. Simon Pickvance and Rory O’Neill spell out how to get the service you deserve. more

Safety on a sick note Britain is not a "sickie" nation, latest research has proved. But attendance records would be better still if more employers took rehabilitation seriously, says Doug Russell, health and safety officer of retail union Usdaw. [17 February 2005]
For the full story order Hazards 89

In sickness and in work: Why is the employers' body CBI calling for a clampdown on "malingerers" and why is a visit to the doctor portrayed as shirking? Hazards looks at a sick trend that is bad for workers and bad for productivity. In sickness and in work special report and Hazards 85 feature [pdf format].

Resources

• Rehabilitation: Hazards guide to rehabilitation, job retention and return to work.

• Policy pointers: A quick union guide to decent sickness absence policy.

• Pre employment screening: Hazards checklist for trade unions on pre employment screeening.

• TUC workSMART: Sickness absence guide.

• Trouble at Work Sickness absence guide.

• European Foundation: Absenteeism webpage, including information on sickness absence and presenteeism.

• Sacked for being sick A Unifi guide to sickness absence [pdf]

• An unhealthy attitude: UNISON leaflet for members and potential members gives advice on sickness absence control measures.

• UNISON guide: Public service union UNISON says occupational health schemes can help prevent work-related ill-health and can provide support for workers who become ill. UNISON information sheet on occupational health services

• Control or management? Guidelines on sickness absence policies for UNISON branches, stewards and safety representatives [pdf]

• Sign-up: The NHS and HSE occupational health campaign. Sign-up

• NHS Plus health at work webpages

LATEST NEWS

Britain: Injured then sacked by ‘cavalier’ council
A Scottish roadworker who was fired by a “cavalier” council after taking time off sick after a workplace injury has won an unfair dismissal and disability discrimination claim. GMB member James McGrath, 52, was awarded more than £25,000 compensation by an employment tribunal.
Clydebank Post • Risks 357
Hazards news, 24 May 2008

Britain: TUC slams CBI’s sick response
The CBI should quit its bellyaching about sickness levels and do something to make work less sickening, the TUC has said. Commenting after the publication of employers’ organisation’s annual absence survey, TUC said the CBI should acknowledge sickness rates are falling and instead of making claims about the cost of “sickies”, should instead encourage employers to address the unhealthy workplaces and work practices that are making workers sick.
CBI news release • Scotsman • The Guardian • Risks 356
Hazards news, 17 May 2008

Britain: Sick workers need sick leave and support
Trade unions have called for more efforts to ensure sick workers are allowed the time and resources to recuperate properly and for decent job opportunities for those with disabilities.
Risks 344
Hazards news, 23 February 2008

Britain: Government calls for “well notes”
Health secretary Alan Johnson has said he wants to see doctors to shift away from sicknotes and instead to issue “well notes,” setting out what tasks a worker can perform instead of certificates automatically signing them off. The move has led to concern in both trade unions and the medical profession, with doctors’ leaders saying GPs should not be used to “police the system”.
Department of Health news release • NHS Employers news release • Risks 344
Hazards news, 23 February 2008

Britain: Unions condemn ‘Dickensian’ health board
A health board in Scotland that discussed issuing sick staff final written warnings has been condemned by unions. UNISON’s Matt McLaughlin said the NHS Glasgow and Clyde approach was “disgraceful”, adding: “It is clear from these proposals staff who are injured at work or are terminally ill will be given final written warnings and could be sacked.”
UNISON Scotland news release • STUC news release
Hazards news, 10 November 2007

Britain: ‘Work while you’re sick’ is hurting firms
Pressure to stagger into work when sick is hurting workers and damaging productivity, commitment levels and motivation, according to research from the Chartered Management Institute (CMI). Its ‘Quality of Working Life’ found 1 in 3 managers believe a culture of not taking time off work for sickness exists in their organisation.
CMI news release • Quality of Working Life report, executive summary
Hazards news, 20 October 2007

Britain: Firefighters are hurt then robbed of payouts
Firefighters’ union FBU has warned it could take action as a result of pension scheme changes that have seen injured and sick firefighters pushed out of a job then denied an ill-health pension. It says recent changes to the Firefighters Pension Scheme (FPS) have already seen three firefighters in London lose out, one after developing work-related hearing loss.
FBU news release
Hazards news, 20 October 2007

Britain: Bosses want ‘business focused’ sick policing
Employers want their occupational health advisers to be more “business focused” and proactive in managing sickness absence, according to new research for the publication Employment Review. When 57 employers – with a combined workforce of 260,000 employees – were asked about issues that arise when using their organisation's occupational health teams, 26 per cent said occupational health advisers should be more business focused; they said they should avoid one-sided consultations giving only the employee's view.
Personnel Today
Hazards news, 8 September 2007

Britain: Tube workers win on ill-health pensions
London Underground union RMT has won an agreement that guarantees pension rights of Tube employees forced to leave their job through ill-health. The deal, which involves companies covered by the Transport for London (TfL) Pension Fund, came after RMT members last month voted by a 15-to-1 margin to strike against moves that would have dramatically affected qualification for ill-health pensions.
RMT news release
Hazards news, 25 August 2007

Sweden: Criticism of new drive to slash sick leave
New official guidelines aimed at reducing sick leave in Sweden have come under heavy criticism from a top government psychiatrist. Jörgen Herlofson, who devised the criteria by which burnout is defined by Sweden's National Board of Health and Welfare, said stress-related illnesses were not being taken seriously.
TT/The Local on the sick leave changes and the related criticism • Hazards sickness absence webpages
Hazards news, 18 August 2007

Britain: Action on “absurd” sacking of injured worker
Around 100 catering staff at Virgin West Coast’s Manchester Piccadilly depot have mounted a third day of strike action in support of an unfairly sacked colleague. RMT is demanding the re-instatement of Rachel Tombling, who sustained injuries when her head hit a computer screen in an on-board shop when her train experienced rough riding - but was sacked when the company claimed she had wilfully damaging it.
RMT news release
Hazards news, 28 July 2007

Britain: TUC welcomes sickness absence task force
The TUC has welcomed a new task force, charged with finding practical solutions to workplace sickness absence. DWP minister Lord McKenzie announced this new vocational rehabilitation task group to help ill or injured people stay in or return to work, and called on employers to do more to support their employees.
DWP news release • Hazards work sickness news and resources
Hazards news, 23 June 2007

Britain: European survey explodes sickies myth
New research has exploded the myth that British workers are quick to use illnesses caused by their work as an excuse to “throw a sickie”. In fact, says the TUC, the study shows that British workers are the least likely in Europe to complain about the effect of their work on their health.
Risks 295, 24 February 2007

Britain: Six figure payout in disability discrimination case
A council worker who was sacked by fax while on sick leave has received a reported £130,000 in compensation in an out-of-court settlement. Elizabeth McDonald had claimed disability discrimination and unfair dismissal against Walsall Council, but settled her case when the offer was made during tribunal proceedings.
Risks 292, 3 February 2007

Britain: Tribunal over-rules stress unfair dismissal decision
A worker who was fired after taking time off sick with work-related stress has seen an unfair dismissal ruling reversed at an Employment Appeal Tribunal (EAT). This overturned an earlier unfair dismissal ruling against the Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS).
Risks 292, 3 February 2007

Britain: BA cabin crew to resist work-while-sick rule
British Airways cabin crew have voted overwhelmingly in favour of strike action in protest at imposed management changes, including a work-while-sick rule to drive down sickness absence. TGWU deputy general secretary Jack Dromey, speaking after the strike vote in which over nine out of 10 workers backed action, said the outcome showed just how serious the situation has become.
Risks 290, 20 January 2007

Britain: True cost of sickness absence ‘close to zero’
The cost of worker absenteeism to British industry could be as much as £13 billion less than other surveys suggest and could have “a net cost close to zero”, according to a new study. The authors say the cost is much lower than estimated by the Confederation of British Industry (CBI).
Risks, 271, 26 August 2006

Britain: Docs say bosses make you sick
The number of workers being issued with sick notes has increased recently, according to an insurance industry poll of GPs and human resources specialists. Doctors made it clear they blame employers for failing to take responsibility for their employees' health and wellbeing. The survey also found 40 per cent of companies had absolutely no system in place for health management and 70 per cent admitted they did not see employees' health as their responsibility.
Risks 266, 22 July 2006

Britain: Public sector absence myth recycled
The Chartered Institute of Personal Development have published their annual absence management survey of more than 100,000 employers. This shows that, once again, the overall average level of absence has fallen but goes on to recycle the old lie that public sector absence is higher than private sector.
consultation has been welcomed by the TUC and also by health campaigners.
Risks 266, 22 July 2006

Australia: Boss wants advance notice of sick leave
Australia’s bad bosses have taken full advantage after the government took an axe to basic employment protection. Workers have been denied access to union safety training, refused entry to inspect hazardous workplace or investigate accidents and have been threatened with fines for standing up against unsafe and unhealthy conditions - but now one employer had gone a step further and demanded his staff warn him at least 12 hours in advance if they are going to be sick.
Risks 265, 15 July 2006

Britain: HSE dismisses sick public sector myths
Public sector workers are no more likely to go sick than private sector workers in similarly sized firms, the Health and Safety Executive has found. But its research did find that some private sector employers, particularly smaller firms, were inclined to under-report true absence levels.
Risks 265, 15 July 2006

Britain: Safety reps are sidelined on sickness
Trade union safety reps are being sidelined on sickness absence issues, with the resulting policies frequently controlled by management and punitive, a survey has found.
Risks 263, 1 July 2006

Britain: Sick leave levels ‘dropping’
Working days lost through sickness absence are at their lowest level in 20 years, a new CBI report suggests. The business leaders' group said the figure fell last year by four million days to 164 million days.
Risks 257, 20 May 2006

Britain: Bosses aren’t safe if they sack the sick
Firing or discriminating against sick workers can be a costly mistake for employers, a sequence of recent union-backed cases suggest.
Risks 247, 11 March 2006

Britain: Council staff sick of bad treatment
Council workers in Tower Hamlets, east London, walked out on a one day strike on Tuesday to protest what they believe to be a punitive new sickness absence procedure. The workers’ union, UNISON, says the changes in the council’s sickness policy were introduced without adequate consultation.
Risks 243, 11 February 2006

Britain: Sickness absence bill put at £12 billion a year
The cost of sickness absence to the British economy is around £12 billion per year, the safety minister has said.
Risks 242, 4 February 2006

Britain: Tube bomb blasts hero may lose his job
Heroic Tube driver Darryl Lisles, who narrowly escaped the 7 July 2005 bombings in London and who led frantic passengers to safety during the failed 21 July attempts, has been told he has just 13 weeks to get back to his driving duties or face losing his job.
Risks 240, 21 January 2006

Britain: HSE pushes rehab and sickness action
The Health and Safety Executive’s (HSE) is urging manufacturing firms to take action on sickness absence and rehabilitation. Unions have urged companies to provide supportive sickness absence approaches combined with effective prevention and rehabilitation efforts - they have warned, however, that punitive sickness absence approaches to hound workers back to work are damaging and counterproductive.
Risks 240, 21 January 2006

Britain: Tougher rules planned on welfare to work
Tougher sanctions are planned against people claiming incapacity benefit who refuse to take jobs, work and pensions secretary John Hutton has said. Proposals for reforming the benefits are due to be unveiled this month.
Risks 240, 21 January 2006

Britain: Amicus backs sacked sick Nissan worker
Nissan’s use of private detectives to snoop on workers taking sick leave has been condemned by a union. Amicus reps at the company’s Washington car plant were speaking out at an unfair dismissal tribunal in Newcastle brought on behalf of sacked paint shop team leader Brian Murphy.
Risks 237, 17 December 2005

Britain: DWP to pay staff for not pulling a sickie
The government is to pay bonuses to civil servants who turn up for work rather than pulling a sickie, according to newspaper reports.Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) minister Lord Hunt said cash incentives are planned as part of attempts to tackle high levels of public sector absenteeism, reports the Telegraph.
Risks 230, 29 October 2005

Britain: Welfare reforms must help, not penalise
Unions have warned the government that welfare reforms flagged up this week must provide genuine support to help people into work and not be a “crackdown” on benefits claimants. Work and pensions secretary David Blunkett said he wanted to liberate benefits claimants from dependence, saying where people “reassociate with the world of work, suddenly they come alive again”.
Risks 228, 15 October 2005

Britain: Sick record used to refuse job applicants
The government’s hopes to channel workers on incapacity benefits “from welfare to work” might hit a major barrier – employers don’t want to take them on. The latest quarterly Labour Market Outlook from the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) reveals that more than 60 per cent of employers exclude groups with certain characteristics from the recruitment process.
Risks 223, 10 September 2005

Britain: New disability rights from December
New disability rights will come into force from December this year and will protect millions of people in Britain from discrimination, the government has said. The new provisions will also extend the Disability Discrimination Act’s (DDA) protection to people with HIV, multiple sclerosis and all types of cancers, effectively from the point of diagnosis.
Risks 217, 30 July 2005

Britain: Managers ordered to take disability rights training
Three senior managers at Virgin Cross Country Trains have been ordered by an employment tribunal to attend training in disability rights law. The company had already been found to be in breach of the Disability Discrimination Act (DDA) for failing to make reasonable adjustments to enable train driver Martyn Hazelhurst to return to light duties after an operation on his knee, which was injured in a train crash.
Risks 217, 30 July 2005

Britain: GMB condemns ‘callous’ DHL sickness role
The union GMB has called on management at parcels firm DHL to apologise publicly to the family of one of its employees who it says was “callously sacked for suspected malingering or unauthorised absence” when he was suffering from a disorder that caused him to become confused and which led to his death.
Risks 217, 30 July 2005

Britain: Preventing sickness absence becoming job loss
A new Health and Safety Executive (HSE) guide for safety and other trade union representatives “suggests ways in which you can work in partnership with employers and the workers you represent to help prevent illness, injury and disability leading to prolonged sickness absence and job loss.”
Risks 216, 23 July 2005

Britain: UK workers take fewer sick days
Workers took fewer days off sick in the past year, a survey from the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) suggests, with absenteeism now at its lowest level since 2000.
Risks 215, 16 July 2005

Britain: “Presenteeism” hits the white collar workplace
The UK's long-hours culture is becoming endemic in the world of the white collar worker. More than half of the UK's white collar employees - equivalent to 8.7 million people - work in a culture where coming in early, staying late and battling on when ill is expected, according to research.
Risks 213, 2 July 2005

Britain: Nursing ward staff sickness causes concern
Nursing ward staff take more sick days per year than most other public sector workers, according to new figures. A report from the Healthcare Commission, based on a survey of 135,000 staff on 6,000 hospital wards, found on average staff have 16.8 days sick leave in every 12 months.
Risks 213, 2 July 2005

Britain: Safety minister calls for sick leave action
Health and safety minister Lord Hunt has urged managers to redouble their efforts to tackle workplace absence.
Risks 212, 25 June 2005

Britain: Firms failing to provide sickness support
The majority of UK firms are failing to provide support for workers suffering stress and strains, a survey has found. It also revealed that 4 in 10 employers (41 per cent) do not have an occupational health service.
Risks 211, 18 June 2005

Britain: Sacked cancer sufferer gets £17k payout
A cancer patient who lost her job after taking time off for treatment has been awarded more than £17,000 for unfair dismissal. Jocelyn Herath, 48, had worked as a deputy town council clerk for Newent Town Council before being diagnosed with breast cancer.
Risks 210, 11 June 2005

Britain: Cancer hit lollipop lady grilled on sick leave
A lollipop lady who survived stomach cancer has been ordered by bosses to explain her time off work at a disciplinary hearing. Mary Strang, 64, returned to the job she has held for almost 20 years five weeks ago after a two-year battle back to health.
Risks 209, 4 June 2005

Britain: CBI out of touch on sick leave
Claims by bosses’ organisation CBI that public sector sick leave is undermining services have been dismissed as ill-informed by unions and other bodies. Infact, Britain had one of the lowest levels of both long- and short-term sickness absence anywhere in Europe and studies show UK public sector workers take less sick leave than private sector workers.
Risks 206, 14 May 2005

Britain: Are you just one illness away from the sack?
Recent tribunal cases suggest a blot-free employment record might stand for nothing in some British workplaces, as employers choose to treat illness as a disciplinary issue.
Risks 203, 23 April 2005

Britain: Cancer patients failed by "ignorant" employers
Cancer patients are unnecessarily losing out in the workplace as a result of a "culture of ignorance" among employers, a report by charity Cancer Bacup has said.
Risks 197, 5 March 2005

Britain: Minister outlines GP role in rehab
Tomorrow's doctors can play a key role in offering sick and disabled workers a better future, work and pensions secretary Alan Johnson has said. He said: "For many people a job can be an important step on the road to recovery and rehabilitation."
Risks 195, 19 February 2005

Britain: Government fleshes out incapacity scheme
The government has spelled out the radical back to work help it says will be extended to people who have been on incapacity benefit (IB) for up to three years. Work and pensions secretary Alan Johnson said the successful Pathways to Work pilots, which include more frequent mandatory interviews and which have previously focused solely on new claimants, will be extended to those who have been on the benefit for a long period of time.
Risks 194, 12 February 2005

Britain: Wolves strike threat over sick pay cuts
City council staff in Wolverhampton may strike over proposals to dock their sick pay for the first three days they are off work.
Risks 194, 12 February 2005

Britain: Honda staff blast sickness policy
Workers at the Honda factory in Swindon have protested about a policy to send home employees who can only perform restricted duties. Their union Amicus says many of the workers' GPs will not sign them off as unfit for work, which means they receive no sick pay and are subject to the firm's disciplinary process for unauthorised absence.
Risks 194, 12 February 2005

Britain: Cautious welcome for incapacity benefit proposals
The TUC has given a cautious welcome to the government's "sensible" incapacity benefit proposals, announced this week in the Department of Work and Pensions' five year plan.
Risks 193, 5 February 2005

Britain: Benefit cut plan to push sick back to work
The government is set to cut incapacity benefit in a move aimed at getting claimants back into work. The prime minister wants to cut the £7 billion a year welfare budget and put pressure on claimants to find employment.
Risks 192, 29 January 2005

Britain: Firing on health grounds an expensive mistake
Employers who fire workers on health grounds are being hit by large penalties at employment tribunals.
Risks 192, 29 January 2005

Britain: Pregnant researcher with cancer is fired
A university researcher who was fired while having treatment for breast cancer is challenging the move at an employment tribunal.
Risks 192, 29 January 2005

USA: Sick employees urged to keep their germs at home
US companies realising that it only takes one employee coming to work sick to spark a workplace disease outbreak and set off waves of absenteeism down the line. Experts say "the idea of the 'hero-worker' that manages to punch in for a full day's work despite illness needs to be discouraged."
Risks 190, 15 January 2005

Britain: Working wounded at higher risk of heart attack
Men who never take a sick day even though they are not in good health may be setting themselves up for a heart attack, according to a new study. Dr Mika Kivimäki and colleagues used a study of 5,000 British male civil servants aged 35 to 55 to examine the relationship between sickness absence, "presenteeism" - working while ill - and the rate of serious coronary events, including fatal and non-fatal heart attacks.
Risks 189, 8 January 2005

Britain: Report dispels the myth of sicknote Britain

A TUC report shatters the myth that UK workers - particularly in the public sector - are always taking 'sickies', that stress is not a serious illness and that the solution to 'sicknote Britain' is a drastic cutback on the numbers of people in receipt of Incapacity Benefit. 'Sicknote Britain?' shows that Britain is not a nation of malingerers and reveals that British workers are less likely to take short term time off sick than workers in any European country except Denmark. It adds that only Austria, Germany and Ireland lose less working time due to long term absence. And contrary to the common perception, public sector employees are off sick less than private sector workers. The report adds that the majority of employers accept that most staff time taken off ill from work is because of genuine sickness. A bigger problem is the high number of workers (75 per cent) who confess to having struggled into work when they were too ill to do so. TUC general secretary Brendan Barber said: 'Sicknote Britain is an urban myth. We take less time off than most other countries, and public sector staff are less likely to take time off for a short term illness.' He added: 'Rather than spiralling out of control, as some would have us believe, the number of Incapacity Benefit claimants is actually on the decrease.'

• TUC news release and Sicknote Britain? report
• Hazards news and resources on work sickness
• BBC News story

Britain: Bosses say they want to help the sick back to work
Most employers say they take measures to help sick workers reintegrate to the workplace, according to a new report published by DWP. Almost all employers interviewed allowed employees to return to work on reduced hours to ease their return, gradually building up the number of hours worked over time.
Risks 188, 24 December 2004

USA: Flu threat worsened by lack of sick leave
The lack of paid sick leave in the US will compound the risk of getting the flu this winter, at a time when even at-risk individuals cannot obtain flu shots because of a massive shortage of the vaccine, according to the National Partnership for Women and Families.
Risks 181, 6 November 2004

Britain: Healthier approach to work sickness
A drive to help people who become ill to stay in their jobs and to prevent them leaving the workforce prematurely has been announced by the government.
Risks 180, 30 October 2004

Britain: Minister urges docs to stop signing sick notes
The government is urging doctors to encourage people to stay in or get back to work when they suffer sickness or injury. Work and pensions secretary Alan Johnson said: "For people who are able to work again, a job can itself be an important step in the road to recovery and rehabilitation."
Risks 179, 23 October 2004

Britain: Study exposes CBI's sick lies
Contrary to claims from bosses' organisation CBI, UK workers are not malingerers - in fact they are among the work horses of Europe. A major new study in the journal Occupational and Environmental Medicine shows they are much less likely to take a sickie than workers in the UK's major European Union competitors.
Risks 175, 25 September 2004

Britain: Royal Mail sick leave move is a dangerous gimmick
The chance of a free car or holiday voucher just for turning in for work sounds like a great idea. But there is no such thing as a free car, says the Communication Workers' Union.
Risks 170, 21 August 2004

Britain: Occ doc sicknote plan report due soon
Government research into ways to shift the responsibility for issuing sicknotes from GPs to other healthcare professionals is nearing completion. Jane Kennedy, minister of state for work, conceded that there would be a big training agenda involving line managers, employers and unions if that approach was to be adopted.
Risks 159, 5 June 2004

Britain: Get back to work, says minister
The government has published its ideas on vocational rehabilitation. A Department for Work and Pensions discussion paper "aims to help people overcome health or disability-related barriers they may face in returning to work."
Risks 158, 29 May 2004

Britain: Stop making us sick, says TUC
TUC is telling employers that the best way to reduce the number of days sick leave is to stop making us sick through bad jobs and overwork. It adds that firms should introduce effective back to work schemes.
Risks 158, 29 May 2004

Britain: Unions watch Tesco sick day plan
Shopworkers' union Usdaw is keeping a wary eye on a pilot scheme by supermarket chain Tesco aimed at cutting sick days. The company is considering plans where workers would get extra holiday or benefits if they did not take days off and of only giving sick pay if people are off for more than three days and provide a doctor's note.
Risks 157, 22 May 2004

USA: Forcing poorly workers in to work is sick
Encouraging workers to leave their sick beds and struggle in to work is a costly mistake, according to a study. Workers who come in sick can cost their employers more through "presenteeism" that through absenteeism, say researchers from Cornell University in the USA.
Risks 154, 1 May 2004

Australia: Working while sick is less trouble
Australian teachers are going to work ill because it is too much trouble to take the day off, principals and a teachers' union say.
Risks 152, 17 April 2004

Australia: Back off boss - you're making me sick
A warning to bosses: Too much supervision can make your workers sick. Workers who are micro-managed or do not get on well with supervisors are more likely to take sick leave, according to a study.
Risks 150, 3 April 2004