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UK employees 'continuing to work through illness'
HR News |
31/03/2010
Many UK employees are going into work when they should really stay away from the office, a new study has revealed.
Research conducted by the Trades Union Congress (TUC) indicates that 21 per cent of public sector staff have worked through illness during the last month.
A further 41 per cent of interviewees in the sector said they have done so in the last year, compared to 36 per cent of private sector workers.
TUC general secretary Brendan Barber described the UK as "a nation of mucus troopers", where people routinely go into work when they are unwell and should be at home.
"And they do this - not because they are afraid of their boss - but because they know they do vital jobs in over-stretched workplaces," he stated.
"It is a myth that there are big, quick and easy savings from new policies that assume that sickness absence is mostly skiving."
Mr Barber said positive sickness absence policies are important, but there is most to gain from tackling the causes of absence, particularly stress, and helping people return to work.
The government is in the process of introducing fit notes, through which employers, staff and GPs will work together to organise phased returns to the workplace after illness or injury.
Posted by John Lynes
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