Britain, by all accounts, seems to have a ‘sick note’ culture. Figures from the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) that cover a year-long period over 2022/3 reckoned that employees off sick lost some 35.2 million working days for one reason or another.
The HSE also found that on average, each person suffering an illness or whatever, took around 15.8 days off work. The average for injuries was 6.6 days, 17.8 days for ill health cases, 19.6 days for stress, depression or anxiety, and 13.9 days for musculoskeletal disorders.
In September 2023, a survey published by the Chartered Institute for Personnel and Development found that workers had taken an average of 7.8 sick days off in the previous year.
Now, while a good proportion of cases will be genuine, there are a significant number of cases where employees haven’t been honest about their condition. Indeed, it’s often surprised TV audiences when reporters have collared the passing public about their views on ‘pulling a sickie’ who then affirm, on camera and to potentially their employers, that they would take time off without being genuinely unwell.
And cases do come to light. Back in October 2023, the BBC reported on a “Nottinghamshire PC sacked after lying about sickness to go to Turkey.” It appears that, as the BBC commented, “PC Joseph Jennings had twice requested leave, but was refused due to insufficient staffing. On that morning, a few hours before his shift was due to start, he texted his sergeant saying he had norovirus.” In fact, he was already in Turkey.
Staff sickness is a real problem for employers, who are often left short-staffed, paying someone to be off unwell and potentially having to pay another person to fill in.
Employers are not bereft of options and can take action. However, they cannot just accuse someone of lying about their illness and dismiss them on the spot. They need proof and must follow a fair process to dismiss. And even then, employers can find themselves in hot water.
Consider the 2022 case of domestic assistant Mr G Galang who was employed by Kestrel Grove Nursing Home. According to the Watford Employment Tribunal, Galang had been accused of lying about his absence due to Covid-19 symptoms and was constructively unfairly dismissed. It found that the care home was unable to identify a fair reason for the dismissal and that the allegations of dishonesty “played no part in the claimant’s dismissal.”
The government has, for years, been trying to lower social security payments and is concerned by rising levels of employees off unwell and on benefits. Indeed, the government reckons that since the pandemic, total spending on working-age disability and ill-health benefits increased by almost two-thirds from £42.3bn to £69bn.
Most recently, in April, prime minister Rishi Sunak gave a speech in which he outlined a “package of welfare reform measures to tackle the unprecedented rise in economic inactivity.” In particular, he said that the Fit Note system, where GPs sign off employees, is to be reviewed “after 11 million fit notes issued last year, with 94% written off as unfit to work.”
Sunak also noted that according to the latest figures from the Office for National Statistics, 2.8 million people are currently “economically inactive” due to long-term sickness – nearly a record high. Of those inactive due to long-term sickness at the start of 2023, 53% reported that they had depression, bad nerves, or anxiety.
What happens next is anyone’s guess and will clearly depend on the outcome of the general election, but, if Labour come to power, it’s possible that little will change.
In an article, “A New Deal for Working People,” published online in January 2024, Labour said: “It will strengthen Statutory Sick Pay and make it available to all workers…” However, Personnel Today commented that “a Labour government would work with JobCentres to help the long-term sick get back to work, according to shadow work and pensions secretary Liz Kendall.” Neither of these two actions sounds overly helpful.