Attendance and work-related illness
Long term absence is a key issue: the CBI-AXA survey found that long term absence comprises 6% of cases but 34% of days lost. Flexible approaches for rehabilitating staff and keeping them engaged with the workplace offer clear potential savings both in days lost and the cost of recruitment and training replacements – above and beyond the human cost.
Clearly, many of the causes of sickness absence are inevitable, such as colds and flu. However, the Health & Safety Executive report that 2.2m people suffered ill health which they thought was work-related, and hence might have been avoided. Three-quarters of this related to musculoskeletal disorders or stress.
There are lots of approaches in use to help manage sickness absence and facilitate a speedy return to work. Above all, they depend on line managers clear and confident in their role, and with the skills to think laterally in how they can support a team member to return.
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