Sick day claims not true: ICTU

THE Irish Congress of Trade Unions (ICTU) yesterday rejected claims by employers group IBEC that sick days taken by Irish workers cost businesses over €1.5 billion a year.

ICTU general secretary David Begg said IBEC’s research was “bogus” and overstated the level of absenteeism in the Irish workplace. While IBEC claimed workers called in sick on an average 7.8 days each year, costing employers 14 million working days, Mr Begg quoted research published last month in an EU-wide journal on workplace health that said Ireland had the second-lowest sick day rate in the EU.

Mr Begg said the Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine found the sick day rate in Ireland was 8.3%, behind only Greece at 6.7% and ahead of Britain’s 11.7%, Germany’s 18.3% and Finland’s 24%. ICTU disputed IBEC’s figures, saying they were based on “dubious science” and aimed to portray an absenteeism problem where none existed.

IBEC had surveyed over 500 organisations and found that 40% of short-term absences were recorded on either side of weekends. One in four businesses suspected many sick days were not taken for genuine health reasons. Younger employees were said to be less interested in their work than older colleagues, while 12% of companies said alcohol was the real reason behind sick days taken by men.

The survey was conducted as part of IBEC’s new guide for employers to help them manage absenteeism. “Whilst not all absence can be eliminated, there is significant room for improvement where absence levels are high, or even at average levels,” said IBEC director Brian Geoghegan.

British retailing giant Tesco launched a scheme earlier this year aimed at cutting the level of sick leave taken by staff.

The voluntary scheme, which is being piloted in 25 Tesco stores in Britain, gives employees an extra three days leave if they take no sick days. Other staff have been offered up to €120 in vouchers in return for perfect attendance, while the company has also docked pay from some staff who call in sick. Tesco said it was too early to comment on the success of the scheme.