Survey: Older UK Workers Less Likely To Take Sick Leave When They Do Not Need To

Research from Unum suggests that older workers in the United Kingdom demonstrate greater integrity than their younger colleagues when it comes to taking days of work sick when they don’t really need to. Specifically, 99% of 56 to 64 year old workers in full-time employment had not taken a single day off sick when they hadn’t really needed to in the past 12 months, while 25% of 16 to 24 year old and 17% of 25 to 34 year old workers had taken at least one day.

With respect to days taken off for genuine illness, Unum’s research revealed that older people take slightly more days off work than their younger colleagues: on average, 16 to 34 years old workers took approximately four days off a year while 45 to 54 year old workers took around seven and a half days. However, 55 to 64 year old workers took just under seven days.

Commenting on the findings from a medical point of view, Unum’s Chief Medical Officer, Professor Michael O’Donnell, said:

Occupational Health professionals have long believed that short-term absence is less frequent in older workers. This research confirms that the reason for this is that they are less likely to take time off for trivial or spurious reasons.

Source: Unum Limited News Release (October 1, 2007)

Other Sources: Health Insurance & Protection "Older workers 'take less sickies'" (October 1, 2007)