STRESS IS STILL THE MOST COMMON CAUSE OF LONG-TERM SICKNESS ABSENCE

Stress is still the most common cause of long-term sickness absence among non-manual workers, according to the latest CIPD survey on absence which found that almost 60% of public sector organisations cite stress as the leading cause of long-term sickness absence - more than double the number of the private sector.

The survey of 1300 HR practitioners also found that there has been a 10% absence fall (from an average of ten to nine days per person) in the past year.

Other key findings include the following:

Three-quarters of organisations cite minor illnesses as the main cause of absence compared with just over half last year.

Absence rates are higher among public sector employees (10 and a half days per year) than private sector workers where the average is seven days.

Of those organisations who report an increase in job insecurity, almost half attribute the fall in absence to the threat of redundancy. Over 90% of HR practitioners believe that absence is costly to the organisation but less than half monitor this cost.

Back pain is the most common cause of long-term absence for manual workers.

Three quarters of organisations have made changes to their approach to absence in the past two years. The most popular initiatives include the introduction or revision of monitoring procedures (69%) and the introduction of new or revised absence management policies (62%).

Almost two-thirds cited return to work interviews as the most effective way of managing short-term absence, while the next most effective method was disciplinary procedures (31%).

The report, Employee Absence 2003: A survey of management policy and practice, is available on the CIPD Website Click here for the CIPD Website