Rise of sick note Britain: Workers are taking a record number of days off due to coughs and colds after Covid ‘opened the floodgates’ to an increase in illness-related absences

Brits are taking a record number of days off sick with minor complaints such as coughs and colds with bosses warning that Covid ‘opened the floodgates’ to a rise in illness-related absences. 

The number of people taking days off sick since the pandemic has steadily increased every year – after falling every year between 1995 and 2019 according to the Office for National Statistics. 

An analysis of 6.5million workers, the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) also found that the average employee took 7.8 days off sick in the 12 months to September. 

Before the pandemic years of 2020-21, the average was just 5.8 days of sick leave a year. 

The amount of sick leave has increased across all ages of the working demographic but has risen most sharply amongst the young with sick days from those aged 16-24 up by 58 per cent. 

Brits are taking a record number of days off sick with minor complaints such as coughs and colds

Sick days from employees aged between 16-24 has risen by 58 per cent since covid

The next highest bracket is those aged 24-34 years old who have registered a 43 per cent rise since the pandemic. 

By contrast, there has been a rise of just 27 per cent amongst those aged 35-49 a further 35 per cent for 50-64 year-olds.

The highest annual absence rate was recorded in women aged 50-64 with a rise of over 40 per cent. 

Speaking to the Telegraph, Jordan Platten, founder of marketing firm Affluent.co warned working dynamics had irreparably changed. 

He said: ‘Covid created a false reality for many employees and it’s no secret that many who work from home see it somewhat as a jolly, doing the bare minimum work required. 

‘This feeds a narrative to certain employees that the company can survive just fine without them for a day or two. 

‘My opinion is that this has opened the floodgates to an increase in sick days, something that, before, most felt they could only get away with once a year.’

However British workers are still taking less days off than their neighbours on the continent. 

A 2021 study by Mitrefinch found that the average French worker takes eight days off a year and the average German a staggering 18.3. 

In Sweden and Switzerland workers take just 2.4 days off on average whilst in Bulgaria workers take 22 – the highest rate in Europe.   

This change in working dynamics has been nurtured by a change in how people see their personal illness and how it affects others in the wake of the pandemic.

Experts believe that workers are on the whole more cautious than they had been pre-Covid

Business owner Esme Marshwitch told MailOnline that workers on the whole more cautious than they had been pre-Covid. 

She explained: ‘People are being a lot more cautious about passing illnesses around, which is working wonders on the curse of “presenteeism”.

‘Where people know they are unwell, but still feel capable of working without delaying recovery, those who are able to work from home will still do so. 

‘Companies that have demanded a return to only working from the office will not have benefitted from this arrangement, which is short-sightedness on their part.

‘Having an individual away for a brief spell prevents spreading illness to a wider group and allows that individual the opportunity to recover to their usual levels of productivity and efficiency faster.’

In July 2022, the government changed regulations surrounding ‘fit notes’ (where an employee is registered as sick) so that nurses, occupational therapists, pharmacists and physiotherapists could also issue them alongside GP’s. 

Beverley Sunderland, managing director at Crossland Employment Solicitors, told the Telegraph that this has created a semi-sick day marketplace where workers can essentially buy leave. 

She said: ‘It is unlikely that a private healthcare service will be recommended to others if patients are not getting fit notes when they ask for them. 

‘Too many healthcare professionals are worried about being sued or complained about if they will not sign someone off work. 

‘Although government guidance makes clear that employers do not have to accept private fit notes, if an employer suggests to an employee that they are not really sick then this may breach the relationship of trust and confidence.’ 

Source: Read Full Article