Public sector sicknote epidemic sees staff 60% more likely to be off

Public sector workers are 60 per cent more likely to be off work due to illness than employees in the private sector.

The extent of Britain’s sick note epidemic is exposed in Office for National Statistics figures that reveal 148.9 million working days were lost last year, equivalent to 4.4 days for each worker.

And the share of such absences among public sector employees was 2.9 per cent, significantly higher than the private sector’s 1.8 per cent.

The ONS claimed it could be explained by differences in types of jobs in the sectors and that workers in state-funded jobs were more likely to be paid for being off than those in private employment.

But John O’Connell, chief executive of the TaxPayers’ Alliance, said: ‘Taxpayers are fed up with footing the bill for a public sector that’s far more likely to be off sick.