Employers to blame for increased absenteeism

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Less than 40% of companies see employee health as a priority for human resources, despite figures suggesting absenteeism costs businesses £13bn a year.

As the government plans to reform sickness benefits through the Welfare Reform Bill introduced last week, Norwich Union Healthcare has published research which says employers only have themselves to blame for high levels of ill health and absenteeism. In its report, ‘Health of the Workplace’, a survey of 250 GPs and over 200 companies reveals 34% of GPs have seen a dramatic increase in the number of people needing to be signed off work for seven days of more. And according to the survey, 94% of GPs blame companies for failing to take care of their staff, claiming the major health prob...

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