November 01, 2010
Stress has become the most common cause of long-term sickness absence, according to new research.
More than one-third, 35%, of employers reported stress as the main reason for long-term sickness absence in the past 12 months, according to a joint survey by the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) and healthcare provider Simplyhealth.
The survey also revealed that 73% of manual and 79% of non-manual public sector employers rated stress as a top-five common cause of absence, compared to an average across all sectors of 51% and 63% respectively.
Research also shows that public sector employers have reported higher sickness absence levels over the past year than their private sector counterparts, with public sector workers taking an average of three days' more sick leave than those in the private sector.
"Compared to the private sector, more public sector employees are in challenging, public-facing roles such as social work, policing, teaching and nursing where they often have to deal with people in difficult and emotionally charged situations, putting pressure on their time and resilience," CIPD adviser Dr Jill Miller said.
But employers also need to watch out for "presenteeism", when employees turn up for work when they are ill, added Dr Miller.
"Presenteeism is interesting, particularly in the public sector. Sometimes workers have a loyalty to the service users, or don't want to let their teams or managers down. But presenteeism needs to be carefully managed. We don't want to make colleagues ill or for them to come in while unwell and perform poorly," she added.
Dr Miller also suggested that employers and line managers should also not allow themselves to lose focus on cases where employees might be claiming they are sick when they are fit for work; she stressed the importance of having a “balance between wellbeing and promoting good health”.
If you’re struggling to attend work due to illness or feel undue stress is being placed on your shoulders it is important to seek medical and professional advice before problems escalate out of control.
