Manchester Worker Absenteeism – Fake or Genuine?

Manchester Worker Absenteeism – Fake or Genuine?

Manchester Worker Absenteeism, do you have a culture of absenteeism within your Manchester based business or believe there is a conflict of interest with an employee?
Absenteeism cost the UK economy £18 billion in 2020. Estimating a figure on what proportion of this was contributable by false sickness claims is impossible.
An estimated 137.3 million working days were lost due to sickness or injury in the UK in 2020. This equates to 4.3 days per worker per year.

Titan Investigations have worked on many absenteeism claims which were believed to be either false or as a result of a genuine injury at work. However, the effects were believed to be exaggerated and drawn out to claim further time off. During the Pandemic we have been instructed to investigate countless claims of false self-isolation. We have evidenced employees landscaping gardens whilst self-isolating or on sick leave with a serious back injury, bedridden employees on holiday riding jet skis, working elsewhere, setting up businesses, moving to a new house and going about their normal daily life. All of our operatives have received formal surveillance training and have years of operational experience in both the public and private sector. We will provide you, the client, with a comprehensive report containing still images edited from the surveillance footage taken during the observations. This report can then be utilised for tribunals and/ or civil court proceedings.

The coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic has affected the sickness absence data in a number of ways; while the virus may have led to additional sickness absence, measures such as furloughing, social distancing, shielding and increased homeworking appear to have helped reduce other causes of absence, allowing the general downward trend to continue.
The UK sickness absence rate has fallen to 1.8% in 2020; this is the lowest recorded level since the data time series began in 1995.
Minor illness is the main reason for sickness absence in 2020; this includes coughs and colds, which have been the main reason for sickness absence throughout the data time series.
Since April 2020, the coronavirus accounted for 14.0% of all occurrences of sickness absence.
The total number of days lost because of sickness or injury and the number of days lost per worker both saw a significant fall in 2020. The data that feed into the total number of days lost and days lost per worker include furloughed workers; therefore, some of this fall will be because fewer people are in work to be taking days off because of sickness or injury. In addition, those employed but on furlough are included in the denominator for the number of days lost per worker but would not be contributing to the numerator.
The sickness absence rate, on the other hand, will not be affected by furloughed workers in the same way. This is derived as the total hours lost as a proportion of total hours worked. While there will be less hours lost and less hours worked, those contributing to both totals are consistent, therefore this measure should still be comparable over time. Since this measure is least impacted by the pandemic measures, it is therefore the most appropriate measure to use for sickness absence analysis to ensure comparability over time.

How has the sickness absence rate changed over time?

What are the reasons for sickness absence?

The percentage of occurrences is the percentage of times a specific reason was given for hours lost because of sickness.

• Minor Illnesses – includes coughs, colds and flu; sickness, nausea and diarrhoea.
• Musculoskeletal problems – includes back pain, neck and upper limb problems and other musculoskeletal problems.
• Other – includes accidents, poisonings, infectious diseases, skin disorders, diabetes and anything else not covered.
• Mental health conditions – include stress, depression, anxiety and serious mental health problems.

From April 2020, interviewers were advised to code any mention of Coronavirus as “Other”, however it is believed people could self-report this in “Minor illnesses” or “Respiratory conditions”.
From April 2020, if a respondent answered “Other”, “Minor Illnesses” or “Respiratory conditions” they were asked a follow-up question about whether this sickness absence was due to Coronavirus.

As coronavirus estimates are derived from an additional variable, and fall under “Other”, “Minor Illnesses” and “Respiratory conditions” totals won’t sum to 100% if Coronavirus is included.
Because of rounding, numbers presented may not add to the total.

Which groups have the highest sickness absence rates?

The highest sickness absence rate in 2020 was seen in Wales, at 2.2%. This was 0.4 percentage points higher than the UK rate. London had the lowest sickness absence rate in 2020 at 1.4%, which was 0.4 percentage points lower than the UK rate.
These figures can be largely explained by the differing age profiles and occupations for workers in different parts of the UK.

How can Titan help with your Manchester Employee Absenteeism?

Titan Private Investigations are experienced and professional investigators and have been involved in investigations since 1997, some 24 years. With Titan’s nine offices located between London and Manchester, we have a national reach. We have specialist Manchester employee absenteeism investigators who will thoroughly investigate your case with the intention of identifying and dramatically reducing your Manchester worker absenteeism rates.

For further information, please call one of Titan’s expert advisors for a confidential consultation at the nearest office to your location.

London Worker Absenteeism – Call the Titan Investigations London Office 020 39046622
Birmingham Worker Absenteeism – Call the Titan Investigations Birmingham Office 0121 7162442
Cambridge Worker Absenteeism – Call the Titan Investigations Cambridge Office 01223 662022
Derby Worker Absenteeism – Call the Titan Investigations Derby (Head Office) 01332 504256
Leeds Worker Absenteeism – Call the Titan Investigations Leeds Office 0113 4574066
Leicester Worker Absenteeism – Call the Titan Investigations Leicester Office 0116 2436520
Nottingham Worker Absenteeism – Call the Titan Investigations Nottingham Office 0115 9646950


Manchester Worker Absenteeism – Call the Titan Investigations Office 0161 3023008
Sheffield Worker Absenteeism – Call the Titan Investigations Sheffield Office 0114 3499400

Alternatively, contact us by email at enquiries@titaninvestigations.co.uk or use our fully confidential contact form and one of our team will get right back to you or use our Live Chat facility to chat directly to one of our Manchester Private Investigators.