A third of UK employers (34%) have experienced increased employee absence in the last year, with employers recording an average of 4.8 days lost per employee per year, according to the latest absence management survey by WTW.

Mental health issues, minor illness and long-term disability were the main causes of increased workplace absence. The research found that 38% of companies have incurred increased costs for absence management and occupational health support costs, while a further 38% have experienced increased use of employee assistance programme services and 37% have faced increased health insurance claims.

Charlotte Steventon-Kiy, absence management lead at WTW, said: “The costs associated with absence alone highlight the need for companies to make employee wellbeing a top priority. It is crucial to maximise the use of data to drive insights and measure the success of mechanisms in place. This will ensure that the levels of support continue to be appropriate from both a prevention and absence management perspective.”

The survey also found that as UK companies look to tackle employee absence issues, many plan to prioritise reviewing and updating policies as part of their absence strategy (44%), while others will look to target employees at higher risk of absence (35%) and enhance absence tracking systems (34%).

Additionally, almost two-thirds (63%) of organisations say lack of manager capability has acted as a top barrier to managing absence, as well as lack of understanding on costs and trends in absence (44%). While cost management remains an issue, in the next two years, half of organisations (52%) are planning to implement modelling to estimate the cost of absence.

---