The Latest Sickness Absence Rate Revealed

What The Latest UK Sickness Absence Rate Means for Your Business:

The latest UK sickness absence rates have been revealed, and this is what it means for your business.

Sickness absence, in particular, remains a persistent concern for organisations of all sizes, as high sickness absence rates can lead to reduced productivity, increased operational costs, and a decline in employee morale. Sickness absence across the UK has slightly dropped compared to the figure in 2023, but the numbers still highlight a real ongoing challenge for businesses. According to new reported data from the Office for National Statistics (ONS), the sickness absence rate fell to 2.0% of working hours lost in 2024. This decrease from 2.3% in 2023 reflects a change over the most recent annual period. While this looks like a positive on the surface, absence levels are still sitting above pre-pandemic rates seen in 2019 at 2.1% when comparing the same period.

The report highlights the top reasons for employee absences:

• Minor illnesses (30%)
• Musculoskeletal issues (15.5%)
• Mental health conditions (9.8%)
• Respiratory issues (7.3%)

The Cost of Absence

The financial impact of sickness absence extends far beyond the immediate cost of lost working days. Lost productivity, the need for temporary cover, and increased recruitment costs all add to the burden on businesses. Official statistics show that the average cost of absence per employee is substantial, underlining the importance of proactive measures to manage sickness absence.

In 2024, UK workers lost 148.9 million working days due to sickness or injury. That’s the equivalent of every full-time employee being off work for 4.4 days on average over the course of the year. The average number of days lost per employee is a key metric for understanding overall absence trends. While this is a small improvement from the 4.9 days lost per worker in 2023, it’s still higher than pre-pandemic levels and the impact on businesses remains significant. Public sector employees continue to have higher absence rates than those in the private sector, with civil servants experiencing some of the highest sickness absence rates. Analysing sickness rates over each time period provides valuable insights for organisations to identify trends and improve the workforce.

Calculating sickness absence rates for your business:

For example, if your company has 100 employees:

• That’s 440 days lost across the business in a year
• Even at an average wage of £120 per day (based on national median salaries), that’s £52,800 lost annually in salary cost alone.
• This doesn’t include the cost of hiring temporary cover, reduced output and missed deadlines. The impact on team morale and burnout from colleagues picking up extra work. The time spent by HR and managers handling admin, follow-ups and compliance.

Multiply this across departments, locations or clients and it becomes clear how quickly the hidden cost of absence adds up.

Other insights from the report reveal that women had higher absence rates (2.5%) compared to men (1.6%). Part-time workers, older employees, and those with long-term health conditions were more likely to be absent from work. Public sector roles continue to see higher levels of absence than private sector jobs.

Absence doesn’t just have financial implications; it disrupts productivity and day-to-day operations. For example, projects get delayed, workloads become unbalanced, and customer service can also be hindered. Team frustration increases, especially if others are regularly covering for absent staff without clear communication or planning. Frequent absences can be a sign of underlying issues within the team or organisation. When employees don’t know how much holiday they’ve got left, or managers aren’t aware someone’s on long-term sick leave until it’s too late, then businesses can’t plan effectively. This leads to poor resourcing, last minute scrambles, and stretched teams. A small number of employees with frequent or long-term absences can disproportionately affect overall absence data and disrupt operations.

Why the new sickness absence rate matters?

Even though last year has shown a small improvement, 2024’s figures show that sickness absence is still a persistent issue for UK employers and behind each lost day are real costs in time, money and productivity for businesses.

Businesses are likely experiencing:

• More time spent manually tracking absences – especially if you’re still using spreadsheets or paper forms.
• Disruption to productivity and planning – without clear data, it’s hard to spot patterns or plan for cover.
• Risk of inconsistency – employees with similar circumstances might be treated differently without a set of processes and procedures.
• Pressure on HR teams – chasing RTW forms can take hours every week.

How Activ People HR helps business proactively respond

We know absence impacts every part of a business, from operations to employee wellbeing. Our software is built to help UK businesses take control of absence, reduce admin and support their teams effectively.

Here’s how we can help:

• Smarter absence tracking. So, no more messy spreadsheets. Log absences in seconds with automatic alerts and real time updates.
• Self-service for employees. Staff can check their own holiday balances and request leave quickly. This cuts out endless email chains and makes the process seamless.
• Return to work process automation. Trigger return to work forms and record discussions easily, ensuring every step is documented.
• Insightful reporting. identify patterns and act early to reduce repeat absence. Utilise tools such as the Bradford factor to spot absence patterns.
• Fair & consistent policy management. Automate workflows that keep your policies consistent, and your teams informed without the extra admin.

The latest data from the ONS highlights the financial implications of sickness absence for businesses. Lost days add up but with the right tools and software like Activ People HR you can reduce costs and effectively use real-time insights and data to proactively manage and make informed decisions. Read Activ People HR’s full blog post here. Or if you’re looking for an easier, fairer and faster way to manage absence across your business then we’re here to help. Book your free demo with our team and see how our absence management system will transform your absence management today.