CBI: Average employee has 7 sick days a year

The average employee has 6.7 days off sick a year at a cost of £13.2bn to the UK economy, new figures have revealed.

Conducted by the Confederation of British Industry (CBI) and Axa, the research showed that 12% of absences are not thought to be genuine.

Furthermore, workers in the public sector took an average of nine sick days in 12 months, compared to the 5.8 days taken by private-sector employees.

CBI Director of HR Policy Susan Anderson stated that bosses must balance two extremes.

'Employers face two serious and expensive challenges - dealing with bogus sick days, and helping those with long-term illness return to work when they are fit to do so,' she said.

The Government is currently considering proposals to replace the sick-note system with a well-note procedure to encourage employees suffering from a long-term sickness back to the office through flexible working schemes.