Sick leave 30-year low

The number of days workers took off sick fell to the lowest in over a quarter of a century last year, according to a new report.

A study of more than 100,000 workers by RotaCloud suggested employees took an average of just over three days of sick leave in 2020 – the lowest since records began in 1993.

Sickness absence has been steadily falling since the 1990s, leaving Britain with some of the lowest rates in the world.

Denise Jennings, head of human resources at RotaCloud, said: "No one should have to go into workwhenthey'resick,but many people simply can't afford to take time off work when they are ill.

"We have the lowest level of sick pay in Europe, bar Malta, and we desperately need better sick pay provision so we can stop effectively forcing people to go into work while they are ill."