This compares to an average of 5.8 days in 2019 before the coronavirus pandemic.

Stress was one of the biggest causes of staff absences with 76% of workers being off work because of it in the last year. The leading cause of staff stress was heavy workloads followed by management style.

The main reasons for short-term absences from work were minor illnesses, which accounted for 94% of workers being off, followed by musculoskeletal injuries, which 45% of workers reported, and mental ill health, reported by 39%.

For long-term absences, 63% of workers reported mental ill health, 51% reported acute medical conditions such as a stroke or cancer, and 51% reported musculoskeletal injuries, according to the report from the Chartered Institute of Personnel & Development (CIPD) and Simplyhealth.

Covid still a significant cause of absence

Covid was reported by 37% of the 918 organisations which cover 6.5m employees taking part in the report, as a significant cause of short-term work absence.

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Half of the firms included in the report said they had employees who had experienced or were experiencing long Covid compared to 46% last year.

Yet the CIPD warned that the figures could be higher as not all employees report their symptoms and a fifth of firms said they didn’t know if their workers had long Covid symptoms or not.

The report found that many employers are now trying to address health and wellbeing issues to support staff and to reduce absence.

Of those asked, 69% of firms said they offered an occupational sick pay leave scheme and 82% provided an employee assistance programme.

Just over half (53%) said they had a stand-alone wellbeing strategy, a slight rise from 50% in 2021.

The CIPD is now calling on companies to be more open and supportive so that it’s easier for workers to speak to line managers about health and support issues including flexible working options.

‘Early intervention to prevent health issues from escalating’

Rachel Suff, senior employee wellbeing adviser for the CIPD, said: “We need a more systematic and preventative approach to workplace health.

“This means managing the risks to people’s health to prevent stress, as well as early intervention to prevent health issues from escalating where possible.”

Claudia Nicholls, chief customer officer for Simplyhealth, said: “With record numbers of people off sick, employers have a vital role to play in supporting them through workplace health and wellbeing services.

“Companies need to implement preventative health and wellbeing strategies that are supported by the most senior levels of leadership and build line manager skills and confidence to support wellbeing.”