According to the TUC, any perception of Britain as a nation of malingerers is misplaced. In Europe, it seems that only Danish workers are less likely than the Brits to take short term time off sick; and only Austria, Germany and Ireland lose less working time due to long term absence.
Contrary to popular belief, public sector employees are off sick less than private sector workers, says the report, and the number of people on Incapacity Benefit is on the decrease.
Mucus troopers
A majority of employers accept that most staff time taken off ill from work is because of genuine sickness, says the TUC. A bigger problem is the high number of workers (75%) who confess to having struggled into work when they were actually too ill to do so. Whilst these 'mucus troopers'' commitment to getting their jobs done is admirable, the TUC report says that working when sick not just affects people's co-workers but can lead to long-term sickness absence.
Employers who are serious about reducing levels of sickness absence should be looking at ways of making work more flexible and introducing elements of greater work/life balance into workers' daily routine, says the report. The more senior an employee, the more control he is likely to have over the content of his job, and he is more likely to live longer than those further down the career ladder, who tend to suffer from a higher incidence of stress and the associated problems of diabetes, heart disease and high blood pressure.
The report also takes a pop at commentators who suggest that many people who are off work with stress are not really that ill. It notes that the Health and Safety Executive estimates that work-related stress costs employers £353 million and society £3.7 billion, and the symptoms suffered by stressed-out employees are serious and include mental health and chronic physical health problems.
The TUC also says that, despite the claims of some commentators, the number of people actually getting Incapacity Benefit is falling, not rising. And far from having an easy life on Incapacity Benefit, claimants receive just £84.28 a week.
TUC General Secretary Brendan Barber said: "Sicknote Britain is an urban myth. We take less time off than most other countries, and public sector staff are less likely to take time off for a short term illness. When employers complain of sicknote Britain, they are attacking some of Europe's most loyal employees."