UK SMEs lose £29bn to employee sickness: Unum UK

“A clear opportunity for smarter policy”

Jaskeet Briah
clock • 3 min read

Small-and-medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in the UK have lost £29 billion per year due to employee sickness, according to Unum UK.

The employee benefits provider surveyed 2,010 UK business decision-makers who are employed within organisations with 3-249 employees. Unum said that wellbeing remains "chronically underfunded", with its findings showing that 27% of SMEs and 47% of micro businesses had no wellbeing budget at all. This comes as 6% of SMEs and 3% of micro businesses agreed that government guidance on their wellbeing responsibilities is clear. Mark Till, CEO, Unum UK, said: "SMEs losing £29bn a year to sickness-related productivity drops should be a serious wake-up call and a clear opportunity for smar...

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