Latest ONS figures show sickness absence on the decrease in the UK

The latest ONS figures show that 131 million days were lost to sickness absence in the UK last year.

The report found that:

• There has been a fall in working days lost because of absence of around 26% since 1993, when 178 million days were lost.
• In 1993, the average number of working days lost per worker was 7.2 days. Last year it was 4.5 days.
• In 2011, the greatest number of days (34.4 million) were lost due to musculoskeletal problems. 27.5 million were lost due to minor illnesses, 13.1 million for stress, depression and anxiety and 13.7 million days for other reasons.

Commenting on the report, Diane Buckley, Managing Director of Legal & General Group Protection, said:

“It is encouraging that the number of working days lost due to sickness is decreasing. A big part of that will be employers taking action early to ensure that the right support is there to help their employees back to work.”