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Workers too scared to be sick

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06/06/2012

Workplace absenteeism has reached a record low, with people ‘too scared’ of losing their jobs to take time off when they are ill.

Workplace absenteeism has reached a record low, with people ‘too scared’ of losing their jobs to take time off when they are ill.

According to the Office for National Statistics, which started recording sick days in 1993, the average number of sick days taken off has now fallen to 4.5 days a year.

In 1993 the average was 7.2 days, with that number falling every year since the recession struck in 2007.

Experts have dubbed the trend ‘sickness presenteeism’.

It comes at a time when unemployment has reached 2.65million.

Despite the falling number of sick days, the ONS figures show public sector workers continue to take more sick days than those in the private sector.

Last year, the average public sector worker lost 2.6 per cent of their normal hours to sickness, compared to 1.6 per cent in the private sector.


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