Sickness takes its toll on performance – VitalityHealth

The latest annual survey by Britain’s Healthiest Workplace (BHW), an offshoot of VitalityHealth, shows that employees lose an average 30.4 working days each a year due to sickness and presenteeism (underperformance due to ill health). Although some sectors had less time lost than others, the results demonstrate high levels of productivity loss across all sectors and organisational size, BHW suggests.

The combined monetary impact of this ill-health absence and presenteeism last year was £77.5 billion, an increase on the estimated £73 billion for 2016. An observed rise in presenteeism has more than offset a reduction in average absence, demonstrating the importance of employers gaining a holistic understanding of employees’ physical and mental health, both in and beyond the workplace, BHW adds.

Shaun Subel, Director of Corporate wellbeing strategy at VitalityHealth, said:

‘The Britain’s Healthiest Workplace results illustrate the significance of the productivity challenge facing the UK, but importantly also point to an exciting alternative in how employers can approach this problem. For too long, the link between employee lifestyle choices, their physical and mental health, and their work performance has been ignored.’