SME employees take less sick days

Staff at small to medium businesses are less likely to take sick days, according to a report by Direct Health Solutions (DHS). The consultancy, which assists organisations with managing absenteeism, says the average worker takes 8.62 days off a year in sick leave, while those in the public service sector averaged 10.8 days off a year.

Paul Dundon, chief executive of DHS, says government and large employers reported higher levels of absenteeism. “There are a lot of companies we know, big companies and public sector companies using taxpayer money, that have people taking 18-20 days sick leave, on average per year,” he says. “Up to eight percent of their workforce won't show up on any day for sick leave.”
 
The cost of absenteeism has been estimated at $354 per person per day, due to other staff having to cover for absent colleagues, equating to $26.6 billion in lost productivity.
 
The DHS survey covered about 1.2 million workers in 183 workplaces across 13 industry groups between March and August this year.