1st October 2007
- Greater Londoners most likely to take unnecessary sick days
- Scots least likely to take unnecessary sick days
One year on from the introduction of age discrimination legislation, new research from leading UK disability insurer, Unum, reveals that employers should be welcoming older workers. This is because they appear to demonstrate greater integrity than their younger colleagues when it comes to taking days of work sick when they don’t really need to.
Of those surveyed, 99% of 56 to 64 year old workers in full-time employment had not taken a single day off sick when they hadn’t really needed to in the past 12 months. By contrast, 25% of 16 to 24 year old and 17% of 25 to 34 year old workers had taken at least one day.
Age of workers Percentage that have taken at least 1 day off work sick when they haven’t really needed to in past 12 months
16 – 24 years 25%
25 – 34 years 17%
35 – 44 years 13%
45 – 54 years 6%
55 – 64 years 1%
Unum’s research found that, on average, across the UK 13% of workers admitted to taking at least one day off work in the past 12 months when they didn’t really need to.
On a regional basis, workers in Scotland are least likely to take a day off sick when they don’t really need to - 92 % haven’t in the last 12 months – while those living in Greater London are the most likely, with 15% having taken at least one day.
However, when looking at days taken off for genuine illness, Unum’s research revealed that older people do take slightly more days off work than their younger colleagues. On average, workers in the UK had around five and a half days off work due to genuine illness in the past 12 months. Yet, 16 to 34 years olds took approximately four days while 45 to 54 year olds took around seven and a half days. This dips again slightly though for the 55 to 64 year age group with on average just under seven days taken in the past 12 months.
Joanne Hindle, Corporate Services Director at Unum, said:
Age discrimination legislation and changing demographics mean that over the past few years companies have been shifting towards employing more mature workers. Our research shows that they may benefit in more ways than expected as although on average they may take a couple more days of sick, they are much less likely to abuse their employer’s trust by fabricating reasons for taking days off sick.
According to the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development, sickness absence costs on average £598 per employee per year. Both genuine and fabricated sickness absence can sometimes be symptomatic of deeper issues at work or home, including stress. By monitoring employees’ absence levels employers can address any issues as early as possible and potentially avoid lengthy periods of absence further down the line.
Perhaps as a reflection of the prejudice that may accompany their higher number of genuine days off work ill, the research revealed that older workers i.e. those aged 55 to 64 years, were on average only 53% satisfied with their workplace’s attitudes to and accommodation of sickness absence compared to 60% of 16 to 24 year olds.
Commenting on the findings from a medical point of view, Unum’s Chief Medical Officer, Professor Michael O’Donnell, said:
Occupational Health professionals have long believed that short-term absence is less frequent in older workers. This research confirms that the reason for this is that they are less likely to take time off for trivial or spurious reasons.
ENDS