Yorkshire and Humberside is the region most exposed to long-term sickness absence problems, according to a new report. Research by Unum reports that 41 per cent of employees in the region say they have taken a month or more off work due to an illness or injury in the past five years.
Yorkshire and Humberside fared worst in the table with Wales and the East of England having the lowest incidence of long-term sickness absence with only a quarter (25 per cent) of workers in each region having to take a month or more off work.
Research shows that 62 per cent of companies claim to have been financially impacted by long-term sickness absence in the past five years with more than half continuing to pay full salaries for six months or more while employees are absent due to illness or injury.
Marco Forato, Unum’s chief marketing officer, said: “Employee long-term absence as a result of illness or injury is a real financial burden for UK businesses. In the current challenging business environment this issue is only likely to place greater strain on employers and unfortunately our research shows that as companies are not taking steps to protect themselves or their employees, it will continue to be a financial drain on businesses for some time to come.”
