The CIPD has published its Health and Wellbeing at Work 2025 report, supported by Simplyhealth. The report found that employees in the UK took an overall average of 9.4 days’ sickness absence per year. This is a significant increase from an overall average of 7.8 days in 2023 when the survey was last carried out and 5.8 days in 2022.
Breaking the 2025 figures down further, employees in the public sector took an average of 13.3 days, in the private sector they took an average of 9.1 and for employees in the non-profit sector, an average of 6.5 days per year.
The top cause of long-term absence in 2025 is mental ill health, with 41% of respondents citing it within their top three causes. Minor illnesses were by far the main reason for short-term absence (78%), with mental ill health as the second main cause (29%).
How can I support an employee with mental health issues?
The report found that more organisations are taking a strategic approach to wellbeing. Rachel Suff, Senior Policy and Practice Adviser at the CIPD, said: “It’s really important for individuals, organisations and society that employers take a proactive approach to support people managing health conditions while working.
“The longer someone is off, the more they might struggle to return. Long or repeated periods of sickness absence can make it difficult for organisations to plan their work, and unplanned absences can also place additional strain on colleagues.”
According to the findings, the top three measures to support mental health at work are access to counselling services, phased returns to work and/or other reasonable adjustments and offering an Employee Assistance Programme (EAP).
Under the Employment Rights Bill, changes are expected to be introduced to Statutory Sick Pay (SSP) from April 2026, which will mean that employers are likely to see an increase in sick pay costs and will need to ensure they have robust absence management processes to manage this.
How is SSP going to change when the Employment Rights Bill is introduced?
