Employee sickness

Employees “Pulling A Sickie” Are Costing The UK Economy £900m

Employees “Pulling A Sickie” Are Costing The UK Economy £900m

Shane Donnelly June 5, 2017 News

UK employees who “pull a sickie” are costing the country’s economy £900m every year, according to a report by breatheHR. The survey of 1,002 UK workers and 504 business owners has revealed that 15% of all workers feign illness at least once a year – with 42% of these fakers doing so just because they feel too tired to go to work - while 19% to do to avoid a certain situation, such as a client meeting. Surprisingly, just 46% of those surveyed admit to actually using up all of their holiday allowance, with businesses losing more than 7.5 million working days a year due to impromptu sick leave – which when based on the average UK salary of £27,000, has a combined value of £900m. When it comes to business owners’ attitude to sick employees, 71% admit they would still expect someone to co... »

Half Of All Small Businesses Would Have To Close For Good If A Key Employee Died

Half Of All Small Businesses Would Have To Close For Good If A Key Employee Died

Shane Donnelly May 2, 2017 News

Half of all UK small businesses would have to permanently shut their doors if a key employee became seriously ill or died, according to a report by Legal & General. The State of the Nation’s SMEs’ report, which surveyed over 800 small firms, revealed that sole traders and younger enterprises are the most likely to suffer financially if their workers are suffering physically – with 67% and 73% saying that they would last less than a year respectively. Despite the obvious risk, a significant number of those surveyed aren’t taking the necessary precautions to ensure their dying workers don’t take them down with them. Worryingly, 48% of sole traders have no form of cover whatsoever, with 36% of businesses valued at under £250,000 and 35% of first generation family businesses also lacking s... »

Employee Sickness is Putting Small Business Growth at Risk

Employee Sickness is Putting Small Business Growth at Risk

September 14, 2015 News

Staff sickness is potentially harming the growth of UK small and medium-sized businesses with 32% of firms having lost money due to employee sickness, according to new research by Bupa. The study, which interviewed 500 small business owners, found that 46% of business leaders believed an employee taking an early short-term absence would be damaging for growth while 47% admitted their growth would be hampered if a worker took a significant period of absence. Despite the impact of staff sickness, the research found that small businesses are continuing to “underestimate the importance” of factoring employee health in their future growth strategy. Only 46% of business owners said that employee health and wellbeing is a key factor in their business plan and 43% of leaders admitted they have nev... »

Staff Sickness Hitting Small Business Productivity

December 11, 2014 News

Small and mid-sized businesses report a 52% rise in absenteeism and 19% drop in productivity due to staff health and wellbeing issues New findings have revealed the majority (86%) of small and mid-sized businesses believe employees’ health should be treated as a priority, with 27% of firms negatively impacted by employee illness. The research, part of the Close Brothers Business Barometer (CBBB), found 52% of businesses have seen a rise in absenteeism due to illness with nearly a fifth (19%) stating it has negatively affected employee productivity and 17% confirming it has led to an increase in staff turnover. According to government statistics, employee sickness costs the national economy around £100bn a year as almost 130 million working days are lost due to sick days. The CBBB report, w... »