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New data has revealed that poor mental health now accounts for one in six long-term sickness absences. BrightHR, an absence management software which is used by over 64,000 companies – and 750,000 of their employees – in the UK released these statistics in September. Other key findings from the data were that stress is now the biggest contributor to long-term sick leave, making up 42 per cent of all long-term mental health-related sickness absences in 2024 and that mental health concerns now account for 16.5 per cent of all sickness absences of four weeks or more in the UK, compared to 7.9 per cent in 2016.
Alan Price, CEO at BrightHR, commented on the findings: “Interestingly, our statistics suggest that mental health-related absences peaked in 2021 as the impacts of the cost-of-living crisis were felt by workers across the UK. Since then, however, long-term absences due to poor mental health have continued to hover at around 14-17% each year, suggesting that this is a trend that is set to continue unless significant action is taken.”
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