Sickness absence recording at its lowest level in four years

Although 80% of employers currently record sickness absence, that leaves a fifth (20%) who do not according to new research from GRiD, the industry body for the group risk sector. In addition, 59% record the impact of sickness absence but 41% do not.

The 2023 figures show a clear drop in the number of businesses that record sickness absence and its impact, which is likely to be because the onset of hybrid working has made it much more difficult for employers to record this data. Absence is simply less visible in a hybrid-working world, and, coupled with the difficulty in collecting the data, some employers may have just stopped collating the figures.

Katharine Moxham, spokesperson for GRiD, said: “It’s important that employers understand that measuring sickness absence is not a draconian measure with which to hold employees to account, it’s about spotting patterns in the employee population as a whole. When reasons for absence are understood, it’s possible to implement an employee benefits framework that offers effective support. Putting the case to expand or change the support becomes more challenging without being able to quantify absences and the impact they are having.”

Of those businesses who do understand the benefits of documenting the impact of staff sickness, recording the number of lost hours or days was the most favoured method (46%), followed by calculating the cost of lost productivity (39%). Thirty eight percent analyse indirect costs – such as colleagues covering work, learning time, management time; 37% calculate the cost of sick pay provision e.g. Statutory Sick Pay and salary costs; 30% estimate costs related to presenteeism/leavism, and 29% look at the direct costs such as for temps and agency fees.

Katharine Moxham concluded: “Absence management is best tackled when employers have a good handle on their data and workplace issues such as stress or long hours can be managed when this is discussed at regular intervals with their adviser and insurer. There’s a great deal of support embedded into employee benefits, and advisers and insurers will be best-placed to advise how that support can be applied to support employees before they go off sick and to increase successful returns to work.”