NEW research smashes the myth that public servants regularly pull a ’sickie’.

In fact, public servants are more likely than private sector workers to work when they are too ill to do so.

And they are less likely than private sector staff to take a ’sickie’ – according to a new report The Truth About Sickness Absence.

Private sector workers are much more likely to work for employers who will sack people with genuine health problems rather than help them return to work.

A new opinion poll found that:

• Two out of five public servants (41 per cent)  have gone into work when they were poorly when they should have stayed off sick (compared to 36 per cent of private sector workers)
• One in three public servants said their reason for going into work when unwell was that “people depend on the job I do and I didn’t want to let them down|” (33 per cent).
• Others were concerned about the impact their absence would have on colleagues: “I didn’t want to give my colleagues extra work” (18 per cent of public sector workers compared with 12 per cent of private sector workers said this was the case).

CBI surveys reveal public servants are less likely to take absences of one or a few days – how ’sickies’ are traditionally defined – than in the private sector. The majority of short-term absence is in the private sector (69 per cent of private sector absence is short-term) but only around 50 per cent of public sector absence is short-term.

Public sector employers are more likely to be supportive of those with long-term illnesses and have good sickness policies in place, says the TUC report.

Around one in eight (12 per cent) of public sector employees told the TUC survey they were concerned about losing pay by not going into work, whereas this was the second biggest concern for private sector workers with twice the amount, around one in four (23 per cent), saying ‘I would have lost pay and I can’t afford to’.

TUC General Secretary Brendan Barber said: “People often talk about a ’sicknote culture’ in the UK.

“The truth is workers – particularly those in the public sector – routinely go into work when they are too ill and should be at home. And they do this – not because they are afraid of their boss – but because they know they do vital jobs in over-stretched workplaces.

“Absence rates have been falling over time in the public and private sectors. It is a myth that there are big, quick and easy savings from new policies that assume that sickness absence is mostly skiving.

“Of course positive sickness absence policies are important in the public and private sectors. But there is most to gain from tackling the causes of absence, particularly stress, and helping people return to work.

“Employers who use the carrot approach of engaging with their workforce in a positive way will reap the benefits, while those who use the stick approach will find it backfires on them.’

• The Truth About Sickness Absence is available at www.tuc.org.uk/extras/absencerates.doc

• Opinium Research carried out an online poll of 2,003 UK adults from the 24-26 February 2010. Results have been weighted to nationally representative criteria. The full poll is available at www.tuc.org.uk/extras/TUCabsencepoll.pdf