Study: Staff sickness in UK lower than in Germany

The number of UK firms reporting high rates of staff sickness has fallen to less than half the rate in Germany and France in recent years, a study revealed.

Fewer than one in 10 companies were affected by high levels of employee sickness in 2009, down from 17 percent in 2004, it found.

This compared with one in four companies in Germany and one in five in France, according to Wen Wang of the University of Wolverhampton Business School.

Wang said the stronger employment protection and generous sick pay in Germany and France caused higher rates of sickness.