National “Sickie” Day Set To Cost Nottinghamshire Businesses More Than £450,000

Businesses across Nottinghamshire today stand to lose as much as £452,400 because of unauthorised staff absence on what is fast becoming known as "National Sickie Day".

Analysis of attendance patterns in previous years has singled out the first Monday in February as the worst day of the year for absenteeism because of post-Christmas gloom, short days, bad weather and low morale.

Nationally, businesses lost an estimated £29m on National Sickie Day last year and with similar - if not increased - levels of staff absence expected again this year, the local breakdown would equate to some £452,400.

George Cowcher, Chief Executive of the Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire Chamber, said: "Unauthorised absenteeism has a massive negative impact on the whole business sector, not just from a financial point of view, but also in terms of decreased productivity, a drop in customer service levels and a reduction in workplace morale.

"Employers are well within their rights to take disciplinary action against workers who take the day off unnecessarily. Businesses need to communicate their company's policy on unauthorised absence and those without a clear policy should work to put one in place as early as possible.

"The local economy is yet to take its final steps out of recession, so it is absolutely vital for the health of the whole sector that employees show diligence and think twice before taking time off work for no good reason."

Local figures calculated using 2009 national estimates that the UK economy lost £29m to unauthorised absence on 1 February 2009. This figure was divided by the latest GVA figures for Nottinghamshire as a percentage of the national economy, published 9 December 2009. GVA, or Gross Value Added, measures the contribution to the economy of each individual region in the UK.

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