From time to time, we find ourselves too sick to go to work. Whether it’s a bad flu, a broken bone or time off for personal reasons, sometimes a sick day can’t be helped.
And it’s not unusual to feel guilty or awkward about having to take more time off than your employer would like. In fact, an NHS cleaner has made headlines this week after she was fired for taking 400 sick days over four years.
Zoe Kitching, who had been off work for extended periods of time due to problems associated with her mental health, won £50,000 in compensation for being unfairly dismissed because of her absences, which amounted to 400 in four years.
It was decided that the cleaner at Royal Lancaster Infirmary was disabled, but not recognised as such by her employer, University Hospitals of Morecambe Bay NHS Foundation Trust.
But how many sick days do people in the UK take per year? And how many can you take before you could end up dismissed? Here’s everything you should know about sick days in the UK.
How many sick days do Brits take per year?
In terms of overall sickness absence in the UK, there were approximately 185.6 million working days lost in 2022, compared with 149.8 million in the previous year, according to Statista.
There were approximately 33.7 million working days lost in Great Britain due to work-related injury or illness in 2023/24, and during the previous year, 37 million working days were lost.
And as of November 2023, just over 2.8 million people were on long-term sick leave. It’s thought that long Covid was a huge factor in this increase, with an estimated 1.8 million people suffering from the condition in April 2022.
Research shows that sick leave due to mental health conditions has also seen a sharp rise in recent years, with approximately 313,000 on long-term sick leave in 2022 due to poor mental health. A further 282,000 people were on long-term leave for depression, bad nerves, or anxiety.
How many sick days is it legal to take in the UK?
Every employer has their own set of rules surrounding absence. But they have a duty of care to their employees, and there are government regulations to ensure workers are treated fairly when it comes to sick leave.
Statutory sick pay regulations are outlined in the Statutory Sick Pay Regulations of 1982 and the Statutory Sick Pay (Medical Evidence) Regulations of 1985. Employers are also required to observe other “sick pay right” and “return to work” rules.
Currently, the rate of sick pay is £109.40 a week. Employees can claim this in full pay for up to a period of 28 weeks. Because of these regulations, there is no legal limit to the number of sick days you can take per year, although every employer will have their own guidelines to follow.
But of course, long periods of absence will be investigated by employers, and it is possible to be dismissed over taking too much sick leave.
Always take sick leave when you’re not well enough to work, but make sure to read up on your employer’s absence policies.
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