A report from The Chartered Institute for Professional Development (CIPD) and Simplyhealth are calling on businesses to create a supportive culture around health in the workplace.

It comes after the organisations analysed sickness absence and employee health among 918 organisations, representing 6.5 million employees.

They found that staff were absent from work for an average of 7.8 days over the past year – the highest rate seen in more than 10 years.

Stress is now a major contributor to short and long-term absences, the report suggests, with 76% of respondents saying they took time off work in the past year for that reason. The top cause of long-term absences is mental ill health at 63% while the top cause for short-term absences are minor illnesses at 94%.

“It’s good to see that slightly more organisations are approaching health and wellbeing through a stand-alone strategy.

“This means managing the main risks to people’s health from work to prevent stress as well as early intervention to prevent health issues from escalating where possible.”

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