Rising Sickness Levels – What Employers Need to Know

Businesses are experiencing rising sickness levels, both short-term and long-term. It’s starting to hit smaller employers harder than anyone else.

According to research by MetLife UK, almost nine in ten UK businesses say they’re worried about the rise in sick leave. The number of people out of work due to long-term health issues has grown by around 40% since 2019, now sitting at close to 3 million people.

That’s not a blip – it’s a trend.

The impact on businesses

For larger organisations, rising absence can be absorbed (at least for a while). For SMEs, it often means:

• Operational pressure: one person off sick can delay projects or affect service delivery.
• Cost strain: sick pay, temporary cover, recruitment, and lost productivity add up fast.
• Team fatigue: colleagues end up stretched, morale dips, and sometimes resentment builds.
• Legal and reputational risk: mishandled health-related absences can tip into discrimination, unfair dismissal, or failure to make reasonable adjustments.

In short, this isn’t just a wellbeing issue – it’s a business continuity issue.

The government’s new move

The government has announced plans to place job advisers inside GP surgeries. The aim is to help people with long-term sickness or disabilities access tailored employment support alongside medical treatment.

The idea is that someone who’s been signed off sick could be offered practical help to rebuild confidence, access training, or explore adjustments to get back to work sooner. It’s called the Connect to Work programme.

It’s early days, but employers should expect closer links between healthcare and employment support in the coming years. That could mean more contact from external advisers, or new pathways for employees returning after long-term absence.

What employers should do now

You don’t need to overhaul everything, but you do need to be proactive. Here’s what’s worth tightening up now:

1. Track the data properly. Know your absence levels – both frequency and duration. Separate long-term from short-term. Most SMEs underestimate their true absence cost.
2. Train your line managers. They’re often the first to spot problems. Give them the confidence to have early, supportive conversations and understand when to involve HR or occupational health.
3. Tackle short-term patterns. Frequent short absences often mask stress or disengagement. Address it early before it becomes long-term.
4. Support long-term return plans. Use occupational health where possible. Offer phased returns and reasonable adjustments. Be clear that the goal is sustainable return, not a quick fix.
5. Review your policies. Make sure your sickness absence and capability procedures are fit for purpose, legally sound, and actually followed in practice.
6. Watch workload and burnout. Often, sickness is a symptom of system pressure. Check resourcing, expectations, and culture – especially in small teams.

Rising sickness levels are here to stay for the foreseeable future. For employers, ignoring it isn’t an option. A well-handled absence process protects your people, reduces costs, and keeps you legally safe.

If you’re seeing sickness levels creeping up or want to pressure-test your current approach, now’s the time to review it.

How can HPC help?

HPC can support you with practical absence management strategies, manager training, and policy reviews – without overcomplicating things. We work with SMEs every day who are feeling the impact of rising absence, and our approach is grounded in what actually works, not theory.

If you’d like to talk through where your main pressure points are or sense-check your current process, get in touch – we’ll help you find a pragmatic way forward that protects both your people and your business.

To find out more information or to discuss rising sickness levels in your business, please get in contact with our team of experts.

T: 0330 107 1037

E: contact@hpc.uk.com

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