The majority of the working population will be going back to work this week after the Christmas break, or are supposed to be at least. January is the worst month for people taking sick leave and according to some studies, between fifteen and thirty percent of those are not actually ill. Losing staff off to sickness is a huge cost to businesses in the UK, the CBI believes it could be up to £13.2 billion every year and could mean that some companies may consider taking out a private medical insurance policy for their employees to try and minimise the days they take off work. Despite the large number of people who notoriously ‘ring in sick’ when they might be nursing a hangover, can’t be bothered, or have somewhere else they would rather go, it seems there is also a lot of workers who are so dedicated they may be making themselves worse.

Over a third of people have in fact not taken a day off work when they are truly ill, according to research carried out by Bupa back in 2005. These employees may think they are being loyal but actually sometimes the best thing to do is stay at home and rest. If they don’t, they could make the illness worse and take longer to recover, even needing time off in the future for a longer amount of time than they would have had to take in the first instance, or pass it on to other staff. It’s a difficult balance to achieve, but one of the best things that employers can do to help both their workforce and the cost of illness to their business in terms of efficiency and productivity is to have corporate private health cover. By having access to the some of the best quality health services in the country, with shorter waiting times, staff can return to work in a quicker time than they might have normally.