Covid chargeable for quarter of all UK illness absence in 2021, figures present

Covid-19 accounted for almost 1 / 4 of all illness absence within the UK in 2021, with an estimated 149 million working days misplaced to sickness or damage, new figures present.

The proportion of individuals off sick from their jobs rose to its highest charge for greater than a decade, reaching 2.2 per cent of the working inhabitants, the Workplace for Nationwide Statistics (ONS) mentioned.

The commonest cause for illness absence all through 2021 included accidents, poisonings, diabetes and coronavirus.

Covid accounted for twenty-four.0 per cent of all sickness-related absenteeism in 2021, up from 13.9 per cent in 2020, the ONS mentioned.

Girls, older staff, these with long-term well being circumstances, folks working part-time and other people working in caring, leisure and different service occupations recorded the very best absence charges.

Males misplaced 1.8 per cent of their working hours in 2021 because of illness or damage, whereas ladies misplaced 2.6 per cent – a rise of 0.3 share factors from 2020 in each circumstances.

In 2021, as in earlier years, staff residing in Wales had the very best illness absence charge (2.8 per cent), whereas these in London had the bottom (1.7 per cent).

The report mentioned that may very well be largely defined by the youthful age profile of individuals and staff residing in London and the forms of jobs they’ve.

In complete, 149.3 million working days are estimated to have been misplaced final yr due to illness or damage, equal to 4.6 days per employee, in line with the ONS analysis.

Tina McKenzie, from the Federation of Small Companies, mentioned the common value of illness absence, together with discovering cowl, stood at greater than £3,000 a yr for small employers, equating to £5 billion throughout the sector.

She mentioned that with working prices “surging”, small companies “want extra monetary help to go on doing proper by their workers once they’re unwell”.

She added: “We’re asking policymakers to take ahead our joint proposal with the TUC (Trades Union Congress) for a small enterprise sick pay rebate which can assist those that have obtained no assist in anyway with utility payments.

“Permitting small neighborhood companies to recuperate sick pay prices will give them that rather more area to speculate, recruit and retain workers, spurring our financial restoration from the grass roots up.”

The ONS mentioned the illness absence charge for 2021 was the very best share on report since 2010, when it additionally reached 2.2 per cent, having typically declined within the 2000s after which plateaued all through the previous decade.

The sudden spike in absenteeism was pushed by will increase of sickness and damage seen between October and December of final yr, the ONS mentioned.

It report a low absence charge in 2020, with Covid measures similar to furloughing, social distancing, shielding and elevated home-working serving to to scale back different causes of absence.

However the rest of coronavirus restrictions in 2021 and fewer requirement to make money working from home, could have contributed to a rise in illness absence in 2021, mentioned the ONS.

Earlier within the yr, the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Growth (CIPD) discovered 26 per cent of corporations cited coronavirus as a important explanation for prolonged absence, in a survey of 804 organisations representing greater than 4.3 million workers.

The CIPD mentioned 46 per cent of these organisations had workers who had skilled lengthy Covid, which is related to fatigue, mind fog and reminiscence points, and that extra must be finished to assist staff with the situation.