Northern Ireland takes more sick leave than any other region of the UK

New research commissioned by North-West-based agency, Marketing Signals, has revealed the total amount employers have lost in sick leave this year.

Partnering with Michael Stokes, partner and head of employment and immigration at Harrison Clark Rickerbys, the digital agency has delved into the legal aspects of sick leave and what employers need to have in place to handle this ever-changing landscape.

The research revealed that from January-September 2022 a total of 1,662 sick days were taken, which equates to 182 working hours lost to sickness.

This also results in an employer losing a potential total cost of £5,235 in sick leave.

On average, the majority of workers surveyed took at least one to two days off sick a year at 50%, with 20-29-year-olds the most popular age group to take sick leave at 29%.

Northern Ireland topped the poll of the region in which employees are taking the most sick days at 33%, followed by the Eastern part of the UK (32.5%), the South East (32%) and London (29%).

The UK region taking the least sick leave was the South West at just 18%.

Nearly three-quarters (66%) of respondents took a sick day as a result of the flu, 47% due to a Covid-19 and 44% cited a mental health illness as one of their reasons.

The cost of living also played a part in many people taking a sick day, as 43% admitted to taking a day to look after their children.

Almost a fifth (13%) of those surveyed admitted to calling in sick because of a hangover.

However, not all people felt they could take sick days: 44% revealed they haven’t taken a sick day this year, and 49% admitted to feeling guilty for calling in sick because they now work from home full time.

Speaking about the results, Stokes said: “Covid-19 has seen a shift in many things, from ways of working to looking at our wellbeing.

“Legally there is no set amount of days that people can take as sick leave. However, one important thing from this research and something that must be stressed is to ensure that all staff understand the company policy about sick days. It should be communicated and also widely available so it can be easily accessed by everyone whenever needed.

“If a clear policy is not put in place by an employer then I would advise that this needs to be done asap to avoid anyone abusing sick day leave and business productivity falling.

“Home working or hybrid working does present an extra challenge, for example, I was surprised at some of the reasons people were giving as a reason for taking a sick day. For example, 43% cited child care, whilst 15% were hungover. This presents two challenges. It’s clear that wellbeing policies haven’t been discussed or flexible working hasn’t been agreed upon, to help employees with things like childcare; then people citing being ‘hungover’ shows me that some are abusing the system and haven’t had the consequences clearly communicated to them.”