Absenteeism costs firms €793m a year

ABSENTEEISM from work is costing small business €793 million per annum and in a regional breakdown Cork has been found to have the worst attendance record.

An investigation by the Small Firms Association (SFA) found that workers in small companies are less likely to miss work through illness than their counterparts in larger businesses, but 5.3 million days were lost in small business in 2007.

Contact centres suffer most — Cork and the South-East show the highest levels — and back pain and stress are the biggest contributors to absenteeism, the SFA report states.