NEW research reveals absenteeism has grown to its highest level since 2010, with most of us taking an average of 9.5 days off sick from work over the past year. The third biggest reason was “chucking a sickie”, following unexpected illness and carer’s leave.
Absence management firm Direct Health Solutions (DHS), which carried out the 2014 Absence Management & Wellbeing Survey research, found people who believe sickies are a “right” take more time off than those who don’t.
“Entitlement mentality is a complex issue,” says DHS managing director. “However part of the reason we have an entitlement culture in Australia is the fear management have in managing sick leave – it is seen more an entitlement to take, rather than a safety net provision when one has an unexpected family emergency or personal illness.”
People working in the travel, tourism and hospitality sector took the most days off sick at an average of 12 days, followed closely by transport workers. Taking about 10 days were those in telecommunications, call centres and public services.
All up, sick leave cost Australia a record $33 billion in lost productivity and payroll costs. For each worker, it comes to an average of about $340 a day.
Queenslanders took the least number of sick days – along with people working in manufacturing and healthcare.
For bosses, frequent short-term absences of one to two days at a time were the biggest challenge.
“Many employers report that people taking a sick day a month was a major issue they were facing, and this was the most disruptive and difficult to manage,” adds Mr Dundon.
The research was based on data gathered from 103 medium and large-sized employers across the country.
MOST SICK DAYS BY STATE/TERRITORY – and days lost per employee in 2014*
1. NSW – 10.5
2. WA – 10.3
3. NT – 9.7
4. SA – 9.5
5. TAS – 9.4
6. VIC – 9.1
7. ACT – 9.0
8. QLD – 8.2
MOST SICK DAYS BY INDUSTRY
1. Travel, tourism and hospitality
2. Transport and logistics
3. Telecommunications and utilities
4. Contact centre
5. Public services/Government
6. Banking, finance and insurance
7. Healthcare
8. Manufacturing & production
*Source: Direct Health Solutions (dhs.net.au)
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