13 April 2007
The average rate of sickness among public sector staff rose in 2006 and is now 43% higher than the private sector average, according to research by business group the CBI and insurer Axa.
Their annual survey on workplace absence across the UK found that public bodies averaged nine days' sick leave per employee last year, up half a day from the 2005 figure.
The private sector average was 6.3 days, up from six in 2005.
Public sector bodies also had much higher rates of long-term absence — defined as 20 days or more — with 52% of days lost in this way.
The private sector proportion was 38%.
Absence and labour turnover, published on April 10, also found a correlation between the size of an organisation and the level of staff absenteeism. Those with more than 5,000 employees averaged eight days' sickness, while those with fewer than 50 had just four.
Susan Anderson, the CBI's director of human resources policy, said: 'There is a culture of absenteeism in some workplaces… If the public sector could match average private sector absence levels, the taxpayer would save £1.1bn a year.'
But Trades Union Congress general secretary Brendan Barber said most absent staff were genuinely ill.
PFapr2007
