Fever pitch: Absenteeism expected to rise during World Cup

Organisations are being urged to adopt a flexible attitude towards staff during this year's World Cup and let them take time off to watch a game, rather than have them pulling a 'sickie'

Guardian Professional, Wednesday 9 June 2010 16.21 BST
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Fever pitch: Absenteeism expected to rise during World Cup
This article was published on guardian.co.uk at 16.21 BST on Wednesday 9 June 2010. It was last modified at 10.24 BST on Thursday 10 June 2010.

Many England fans will be watching at home - but with some games kicking off during working hours, how many will be tempted to phone in sick?

The public sector and business groups in the UK have been warned to brace themselves for a rise in absenteeism during the forthcoming World Cup.

Last year it is estimated that the British economy lost 27 million working days as a result of bogus "sickies", costing £2.5bn. In the public sector specifically, employees took more sick days, with an average of 8.3 days a year, 43% higher than the private sector's 5.8 days.

With the World Cup set to open on Friday and the mood of optimism reaching fever pitch, HR experts are predicting a spike in the number of 'sickies' pulled during the tournament.

Many organisations have already equipped staff with technologies that support flexible working such as, unified communications, laptops, mobile phones and headsets, enabling employees to work flexibly, and minimise the impact the World Cup might have to their business as a result of absenteeism.

Employers are also been urged to be more flexible as in a majority of cases where "sickies" are taken, a few hours leeway would usually avoid the "sickie" being taken in the first place.

In general, and across both sectors, the impact of staff absence is considerable, with the 180 million sick days costing employers about £16.8bn in 2009, plus indirect costs like reductions in customer service and delays to teamwork.

Unfortunately, the so-called "sickies" remain a problem. The senior HR staff surveyed at 241 public and private-sector organisations recently by the CBI estimated that around 15%, or 27 million sick days weren't genuine, and cost the country £2.5bn a year.

Public sector employees took more sick days, with an average of 8.3 days per year, which is 43% higher than the private sector figure of 5.8 days.

The public sector's record improved since the last CBI absence survey covering 2007, when the average was 9 days. The recent CBI report Time for Action suggested that progress towards private sector absence levels could save the public purse £5.5bn by 2015-16.