Employee absence from work is persistently higher in the public and voluntary sectors than in other sectors, with stress increasingly blamed as the main problem.
Research shows that – on average – the annual absence from work in the public sector was 9.6 days, 8.3 days in the not-for-profit sector and 6.6 days in the private sector. This is costly for the sectors – with the median annual cost of public-sector absence being £899 per employee, which is nearly £300 more than other sector.
Can or should more be done, whether by employee or employer, to protect and nurture the health and wellbeing of the workforce that keeps the rest of society well?
In June, the Guardian’s Society Professionals Network will be running a project named Clock off, which will be exploring the mental and physical wellbeing of the public and voluntary sector’s workforce.
To inform the project, they want to hear from you about your working life.
For further information and to take the survey, visit: www.theguardian.com/society-professionals/2015/may/06/survey-state-staff-wellbeing-voluntary-public-sectors