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Read more articles in: Amanda Hyam, Blog, Employment Law
12 October 2026
The winter sniffles have begun to make their way around offices across the UK. With the weather cooling down and the leaves starting to turn orange, employers need to have a robust sickness policy in place to ensure all staff members are on the same page.
However, a recent study from the ONS has shown that people aged between 16 and 24 are less likely to take a sick day compared to older generations.
Employers need to ensure that they have sickness policies in place so that people are taking time off when they are sick, rather than coming to work and damaging productivity while prolonging recovery.
While it might be seen as commendable to try and carry on despite illness, doing this is detrimental to a person’s productivity and can negatively impact the business overall.
The Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR) found in 2024 that employees lose the equivalent of 44 days’ productivity on average due to working through sickness, up from 35 days in 2018.
This figure may have worsened if working while ill continues to be the norm, as research suggests that nearly half of all people in the UK go into work when they are sick.
For younger workers, they are more likely than any other generation to work zero-hour contract jobs, simply meaning that if they don’t go into work, they don’t get paid. This is one of the main reasons for working through illness.
Even those on regular incomes may struggle to meet their financial obligations if they are paid Statutory Sick Pay (SSP), rather than their typical rate, due to the ongoing cost of living crisis.
There should also be consideration paid to the fear of judgment when calling in sick. People believe that their bosses or coworkers will doubt their illness or view them as lazy if they call in sick.
Additionally, a toxic workplace can factor into the decision not to call in sick. If there is an environment where employees are rewarded for powering through, employees can feel discouraged from taking the rest that they need.
Remote working opportunities also place employees in a tough spot. Remote working options make it easier for employees to feel as if they have to log on from bed.
This removes the physical barrier of going into an office and can place stress on an employee to work even when they are unwell.
To foster a culture where employees call in sick when they need to, it needs to be modelled by bosses.
People in a leadership position need to follow the advice themselves. They shouldn’t be logging on if they are visibly or audibly ill. Instead, they need to model the behaviour and call in sick should they need to.
Additionally, employers should stop negotiating when an employee calls in sick. Rather than asking when they will be back to work or asking for diagnostic details, employers should encourage employees to rest and come back to work only when they feel well enough to do so.
Guilt towards calling in sick should also be stamped out. Often employees feel as if their sick day can cause an entire department to collapse.
To combat this, employers should cross-train staff so that when they call in sick, they know that their work will be covered, therefore eradicating the associated guilt.
Having a clear sickness policy in place is essential to destigmatising sickness calls.
They do this by:
This is only possible if your sickness policy has the right clauses covering absence reporting, evidence rules, SSP entitlements and return-to-work procedures.
It is essential that employers get their sickness policies up to date ahead of the winter snuffle season. Thankfully, we are here to support you with that.
Our team can support you with the writing and implementation of sickness policies to ensure that your employees can take the well-needed rest that they deserve when they are unwell.
We all know too well how one illness can spiral into the whole office being sick. This winter, take a new approach, as after all, the better your employees feel, the more productive they will be.
For support with sickness policies this winter, get in touch with our team!
