Working from home has many benefits for employees and employers. Recent findings show that people who can work from home have the lowest recorded sickness absence rates.  This is yet another advantage to add to the list.

Sickness rates in the UK

Research by the CIPD and Simplyhealth found that UK employees were absent for an average of 7.8 days over the past year, an increase from the pre-pandemic sickness absence rate of 5.8 days.

Key findings by Ulster University’s Economic Policy Centre reveals differences in absence rates across the UK: England at 2.5%, Scotland at 3% and Northern Ireland at 2.7%.

Common reasons for absence

The top reasons reported across the UK for calling in sick include:

• Accidents, poisoning, infectious diseases and skin disorders which accounted for 26% of absences.
• Minor ailments, including coughs, colds and gastrointestinal illnesses resulting in 24% of absences.

Stress is a significant factor for both short- and long-term absences. Over 76% of respondents in a CIPD study reported stress-related absences in their organisations, with heavy workloads (67%) and management style (37%) being the key causes.

The benefits of working from home

The research by Ulster University’s Economic Policy Centre found that the lowest absence rates in the UK (1.4%) were among workers who were able to work at home.

Mainly as this arrangement allows employees to manage minor ailments more effectively without the need to commute to the office.

Working from home is easy with LeavePlanner

LeavePlanner makes managing working from home schedules simple. Administrators can specify employee working hours, working patterns and rotas, to make working from home a practical solution for any business.

Arrange your free trial today. For easy-to-use absence management software, call Steve on 01252 636 070 or email support@leaveplanner.com.

Pssst! Check out our new all-in-one system, HR Planner, which incorporates an easy-to-use leave management solution, designed specifically with SMEs in mind.