Monday: most common for sickness

Stress at work

New research suggests that more than a third of all sick days are taken on a Monday, matched only by a high rate of absence in the month of January.

The study, conducted by consultancy firm Mercer, was based on an analysis of sickness management records for 11,000 employees from a range of private sector organisations in the UK. However, the findings are indicative of a global issue.

According to the findings of the research, the most common reason for absence was musculo-skeletal problems, followed by viral infections and then stress-related illness.

Sick leave

The figures also demonstrated that, during 2008, such leave in January at half a day per person. What's more, 13 of the 20 most popular days for sickness absence occurred in January - six of these between 2 and 9 January. In 2008, Thursday 3 and Friday 4 January nearly five percent of the total employee population was absent on sick leave.

While it would be unfair to assume that this is a problem also experienced across the Atlantic, the impact of the recession is likely to lead to similar issues, as Professor Cary Cooper, an occupational health psychologist at the University of Lancaster, explained: "People are doing more work under more demanding conditions so are under more stress and need more rest and recuperation.

"Some employees may feel the weekend is not enough so they take the extra day."

Recession

Professor Cooper goes on to discus that the UK has gone from being a manufacturing economy to a more service-based economy within the past 30 years, suggesting that the problems most likely to rise in the workplace are "people problems rather than physical problems, despite what the survey suggests."

He suggests that employee audits should be conducted regularly to keep across what was causing problems in the workplace. "Is it the long hours?" He warns, "Is more flexible working needed?"

Meanwhile, with the US starting to see the first signs of economic recovery, employers need to entrust their workers with flexible working if they are to see stress-related illness and sickness absence lower and productivity increase.

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