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How much is absence costing your business?
18 July 2005
As the latest CIPD statistics reveal that absent employees are costing their company £601 each, per year - a total annual loss to British business of over £12 billion - Bupa has launched a new absence management service to help firms save money. Last year 168 million days were lost due to absence yet many companies are unaware of the financial impact on their business.
Ann Greenwood, director of business markets for Bupa Insurance comments: "You can't manage what you can't measure. Companies who don't properly monitor absence are risking their bottom line; the average employee is off for 6.8 days a year which costs a company almost £500. In the public sector the figures are higher with 10.3 days per employee per year. With six percent of long-term absence making up 40 percent of the absence costs, getting people back to work quickly is vital."
Bupa Absence Management will reduce employee absence, mitigate risk for employers through early identification of health problems and reduce management workload. It is widely recognised that when absence is monitored by health experts, this can lead to a reduction in short term absence.
The service will benefit employers because not only will they receive management information to help identify 'hotspots' and trends, it also means every member of staff is treated in a consistent way and the employer is providing support when employees are off sick.
On the first day of absence an employee will ring a dedicated Bupa call centre where the absence will be logged and a return to work date established. The employee's line manager will then be notified. If appropriate, the employee will speak to a Bupa nurse who will give clinical advice and advise on the steps required to get them back to work. Employees will receive appropriate guidance and advice for treatment when they are sick and will feel more valued and motivated as a result.
Ninety percent of businesses say absence is a significant cost. Outsourcing to Bupa Absence Management means companies can tackle the problem without putting extra pressure on line managers, who often don't have time to monitor absence effectively and are not qualified to gauge how long an employee should be absent with a particular ailment and feel uncomfortable and ill-equipped to challenge non-legitimate absence."
Ann Greenwood continues: "Workplace absence is, and continues to be, a problem which is costing British business both time and money. Identifying the problem and the appropriate solutions creates a triple win: for the employee, the employer and UK plc."
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