UK workers take fewer days off work due to sickness than first believed, according to a new report.
The report, by the Trades Union Congress (TUC), shows that British workers are less likely to take short-term time off than any European countries apart from Denmark.
Findings also show that the majority of employers accept that most staff taking time off with sickness are genuine.
Despite such news, the report goes on to reveal that work related stress costs employers £353 million.
The TUC is urging employers to introduce ways of making work more flexible and introduce elements of greater work/life balance into their employees daily routine if they want to reduce absence even further.
Brendon Barber, TUC general secretary Brendan Barber, said: “Those who’ve been trying to make cheap political points about getting tough with the work-shy spongers are completely missing the point.
“Rather than spiralling out of control, as some would have us believe, the number of incapacity benefit claimants is actually on the decrease.”
