The continuing story of sickness absence

Summary:

It is important to better understand the phenomenon of sick leave, not only because of the costs it imposes on both the employer and society as a whole, but also as an indicator of health of the workforce and predictor of future disability and mortality.

Little is still known, however, about the recurrence risks of sickness over the longer term. Are those who frequently take sick leave more likely to have longer periods of sick leave, or is the opposite true? How does long-term or frequent sick leave correlate with personal and job characteristics? There is also a gap in our knowledge of the pattern of sick leave in correlation with a career over the longer term. Do frequent or long-term absentees have a greater chance of becoming excluded from the labour force? Are certain diagnosis associated with a higher chance of disability or leaving employment?

The research project is being conducted amongst 54,000 employees younger than 55 years of age and employed by a large number of companies in the Post and Telecommunications sector. Four cohorts have been formed on the basis of their sick leave in 1997: frequent absence (>=4 times), long-term absence (>6 weeks), a combined group and a reference group. Of these groups, sick leave and leaving employment were followed for a period of four years thereafter (1998-2001).

The same population is followed as a dynamic cohort from 2001-2007 in order to investigate the risk of recurrence of sickness absence due to mental disorders.