Women have more sick days than men

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New research has found that women are taking more sick days off from work during their career than their male colleagues. The average man calls in sic...

 

New research has found that women are taking more sick days off from work during their career than their male colleagues.

The average man calls in sick on 140 days throughout their entire working life while women take a total of 189 days off sick during their career life.

However, it was found that women are more likely to feel guilty about phoning in sick than men and they try harder to make it to their desk.

The most common reasons cited for employees being unable to come into work included stomach bugs, viruses and dizziness.  

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Although they were found to take less sick days, men were still more likely to be questioned about the amount of sick leave they were having than their female colleagues.

The results of the study, which questioned 1,000 men and 1,000 women about their attitudes towards sickness and their working life, have displayed definite gender differences.

Men fared much worse than women when it came to their dedication of attempting to go into work; four in ten said they called in sick the moment they felt ill and they are also more likely to inform their manager about their sickness by email or text.

 Women, on the other hand, displayed more positive results. Nine out of ten said they would try their best to go into work and only three in ten would call in sick at the first instance of them being unwell.

 It was also discovered that men stay at home when they are suffering from minor illnesses such as hayfever, a sore throat or a headache, whereas women called in sick when they are suffering from a high temperature, vomiting and flu.

Meanwhile, 37 percent of colleagues say they would prefer it if people stayed at home to recover from an illness rather than attempting to go into work.

The report also found that employees are feeling an increased pressure to go into work when they are ill; 60 percent of men and 70 percent of women said they felt like they are unable to have any time off work.

The report was commissioned by the Benenden Healthcare Society and Lawrence Christensen from the organisation said: “The age-old debate between the sexes continues as our research shows a difference between them when it comes to taking sick leave.”

“While men are less likely to shake off the man flu and go to work, women do end up taking more sick days across their careers. They might succumb to illness more easily, but women come out on top when it comes to dedication to work.”

He added: “However, in all cases, there seems to be a great pressure to battle on and make it into work. This is perhaps even more relevant considering the current weakness of the economy - are British workers being frowned upon if they take sick leave? Would employers rather their staff place their colleagues at risk of infection and illness?”

“Employers need to ensure that their sickness absence management procedures are robust. Good, holistic approaches to employee health & wellbeing can result in greater productivity and lower instances of sickness absence.”

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