'Sick' public sector is a myth, claims HSE August 2006

News | HSW
01.08.2006

The HSE has released new research challenging the "myth" that public sector workers are much more likely to take time off sick than their private sector counterparts. Based on an employee survey, the HSE's report says the prevailing view is misleading, arguing that differences in absence rates have more to do with age, gender and size of organisation.

The Survey on Workplace Absence, Sickness and (Ill) Health (SWASH) involved telephone interviews with more than 10 000 employees in autumn 2005. Taking into account organisation size, as well as differences in the age and gender profiles in the public and private sectors, it concludes that the real difference in absence rates is just 0.3 days per employee (7.5 days for the public sector and 7.2 for the private sector). This contrasts with the latest annual Confederation of British Industry (CBI) and AXA Insurance survey figures, which put public sector absence around 30% higher than average private sector rates.

The HSE report argues headline public sector absence figures - such as those published by the CBI/AXA  - may be biased in that they do not take into account differences in organisational demographics such as gender, size of organisation and age. The SWASH survey found significant differences in absence rates based on these factors, but only modest differences attributable to employment sector. For example, the average length of sickness absence is longer in large organisations (with 250 or more employees), and higher for women and older workers. Nearly all public sector employees work in large organisations, and the public sector employs proportionately more women and has an older age profile than the private sector.

The SWASH survey also highlights evidence of greater under-recording of absence in the private sector, particularly in smaller firms. Other differences attributable to sector include less favourable sick pay arrangements in the private sector and a higher proportion of public workers continuing to work while ill.

Just 10 days after publication of the HSE report, the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) released its annual absence management survey highlighting what it calls a "stubbornly wide" public/private sector gap. It questioned 1000 employers and found a public sector rate of 10 days per employee per year, compared with 7.5 days for private sector employees - a 25% difference. TUC general secretary Brendan Barber siad the CIPD is pedalling a "tidal myth" that is "simply not the case".