One in seven SME workers fake an illness to take three days off each year
breatheHR, provider of HR software for SMEs, reveals the staggering cost of small business employees bunking off: a whopping £900 million. The report found one in seven employees admitted to feigning illness and those that do appear to be serial offenders – pulling a sickie on average three times a year!
At the end of 2016, SMEs employed 15.7 million people and accounted for 99% of all private sector businesses. This economic force is only growing in prevalence and numbers; Britain needs the SME economy to be firing on all cylinders.
Jonathan Richards, CEO, at breatheHR comments: “
We’re facing a costly absence epidemic. At a time when the government is attempting to decipher the ‘productivity puzzle’, over two million people are calling in sick when they are in fact not. Imagine if that number was halved, what uptick in economic performance would that deliver to the UK economy and SMEs?”
After researching over 1,500 British SME workers and business owners (5-249 employees) via Opinium, breatheHR found nearly half (42%) of employees who are pulling sickies do so due to needing a rest. However, just under half (46%) of workers are using up their full holiday allowance.
Richards adds:
“Absence has a big impact on small companies, but it’s an area that is often overlooked or poorly managed. With the right support tools in place, SMEs can reduce business admin and free up more time to create a culture where sickies simply don’t occur. This report shines a light on how absence impacts employees, employers and the wider business ecosystem.”
Due to the piling pressure on business owners, half (51%) of them confessed to contacting an employee while they were on sick leave – this number jumps to 72% for younger business owners (18-34-year-olds) showing clear generational differences. Additionally, three-quarters (71%) of business owners would expect employees to work if they had a common cold. Why? Because absenteeism impacts the bottom line – 85% of business owners say it has an economic effect.
Rebecca joined the HRreview editorial team in January 2016. After graduating from the University of Sheffield Hallam in 2013 with a BA in English Literature, Rebecca has spent five years working in print and online journalism in Manchester and London. In the past she has been part of the editorial teams at Sleeper and Dezeen and has founded her own arts collective.
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