Estimate the cost of sickness absence
The Keep Britain Working review estimates that economic inactivity caused by ill health costs the UK £212 billion a year, around 7% of GDP. It reports that 2.8 million working-age people are economically inactive because of health conditions.
Your organisation
Average sickness days per employee per year
Cost by cause
The starting split uses the ONS 2025 shares of sickness absence occurrences.
Drag a handle, or select it and use the arrow keys, to change the split.
Model a reduction
A reduction of 1 day per employee is estimated to save
£20,192
The saving uses the true cost at 1.5 times the direct cost. The direct saving is £13,462.
Discuss your figures with us
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How the estimate is calculated
- True cost multiplies the direct cost by 1.5 by default, adjustable from 1 to 3. The Keep Britain Working review estimates that poor workplace health costs employers about £85 billion a year. Of this, £57 billion is sick pay (£10 billion) and lost output while employees cannot work (£47 billion). The remaining £28 billion is lost productivity from employees working while unwell (£21 billion) and the cost of conflict resolution, litigation and recruitment (£7 billion). The default of 1.5 is the ratio of £85 billion to £57 billion.
- Direct cost = (salary ÷ 260 weekdays) × sickness days × employees.
- Default days come from the CIPD Health and wellbeing at work 2025 survey. The UK average is 9.4 days per employee per year, up from 7.8 days in 2023. The averages are 13.3 days in public services, 9.1 in the private sector and 6.5 in non-profit organisations. CIPD advises caution with the public services and non-profit figures because of small samples. The ONS estimate for 2025 is 4.4 days per worker.
- Cause split starts from the ONS reasons for sickness absence in 2025. Musculoskeletal problems accounted for 14.6% of occurrences and mental health conditions for 8.9%. The ONS shares count occurrences of absence. They do not measure days lost or cost. The split is indicative and adjustable.
- On-costs excluded. The calculation uses gross salary only. It excludes employer National Insurance, which is 15% of earnings above £5,000 a year in 2026 to 2027, and employer pension contributions.
Related services
We provide these services for employers managing sickness absence.
Absence management
Early intervention, return-to-work planning and case management to reduce the duration and frequency of absence.
Learn more →Musculoskeletal & physiotherapy
Work-focused assessment of back, neck and joint problems, with physiotherapy arranged through our HCPC-registered network.
Learn more →Mental health & neurodiversity
Assessment, training and organisational support for the leading cause of long-term absence.
Learn more →Talk to us about sickness absence
We advise on reducing sickness absence across your organisation. We answer enquiries within 3 working hours.