Sick Britain

At least we’re good at some things. British workers, it seems, top the European league of skivers. Our 35 million sickies each year account for over a quarter of Europe’s total of 122 million, according to new research by Aon Consulting.

The study covered 7,500 workers in ten European countries and differentiated between genuine work absence due to ill-health and days taken off for other reasons under cover of illness. When asked why they had taken their most recent day off work, only half of Britons said it was for “a genuine physical or mental illness.” Danish workers emerged as the most honest in the survey.

According to the CBI, sick days cost the economy £2.5 billion each year.

 

* * *

First Aid