The following details have been supplied by the TUC:
Employees are under pressure not to take sick leave entitlements when they're ill, Labour MPs have warned. The say job insecurity has left the UK workforce scared to take time off. Official figures show that the average number of sick days taken has fallen every year since the 2008 recession. Labour MP John McDonnell, quoted in the Guardian, said: 'High levels of unemployment and escalating job cuts in the public sector have created a climate of stressful insecurity at work. The result is that people who are unwell and should be taking time off sick are anxious about taking leave for fear of being victimised by managers or losing their job. This is completely counterproductive, as when people come in sick productivity falls and they infect colleagues.' MP Michael Meacher said the government was not doing enough to support employees: 'This is a government which regards sickness as a form of malingering. On top of job insecurity from rising unemployment and paring back of employment rights, is now added pressure on people to work even when ill." Figures from the Office of National Statistics show that the average number of days of sickness leave employees have taken has decreased from 5.6 per year in 2007 to 4.5 in 2011. Now, new research by Canada Life, suggests an average of just 4.1 sick days were taken last year. The research found that 93 per cent of workers would still go to work if they had a cold, while 80 per cent would attend despite stress-related illnesses; 81 per cent of those surveyed also said they thought they had become ill because another member of staff came into work when they were unwell.
