The cost of doing nothing on workplace health

What does workplace health inaction cost a CEO?

For a CEO, workplace health inaction creates a talent and continuity problem that grows quietly in the background. UK employees now take an average of 6.7 sick days per year, up from 3.7 in 2018 ⁽²⁾. That rise mirrors a national trend in the UK where 148.9 million working days were lost to sickness in 2024, the highest on record ⁽³⁾. In knowledge intensive businesses, this translates directly into delivery risk, rising management pressure and higher attrition. Employees who do not get the right support do not always return to full productivity and some do not return at all.

Absence is only the visible part; the less visible part is what happens around it. Work related stress, depression and anxiety alone accounted for 16.4 million lost working days last year ⁽⁴⁾. Musculoskeletal conditions added another 7.8 million ⁽⁵⁾. When an employee is off for weeks, the impact spreads. Their workload redistributes across colleagues who absorb extra pressure. Managers carry cases they are not trained to handle. Teams stretch, strain and sometimes break.

Then comes the talent exit. Employees who struggle without support often leave before long term absence even begins. Replacing a mid to senior employee costs multiples of their salary once recruitment, onboarding and time to full productivity are factored in and none of that appears in an absence report.

Employer brand is part of the commercial picture too. Candidates increasingly research how organisations support employee health. The Keep Britain Working report has put employer led workplace health firmly on the business agenda. Expectations are rising and they are not moving backwards.

Doing nothing means carrying a risk that compounds and ignoring it does not make it smaller; it simply makes it more expensive to fix later.

What is the financial cost of workplace health inaction for a CFO?

For a CFO, workplace health inaction carries a measurable and growing financial cost. The hidden cost of workplace sickness reached £103 billion in 2023 ⁽⁶⁾. Of the £30 billion rise since 2018, £25 billion came from lower productivity while people were at work unwell ⁽⁷⁾. Only £5 billion came from additional sick days ⁽⁸⁾. The cost is not primarily in the absence, it is in the output that does not happen while people are at work but not well.

This is consistent with national data showing poor employee health costs the UK economy £138 billion a year when presenteeism is fully counted ⁽⁹⁾. Presenteeism is rising too with 35% of organisations reporting an increase in the last twelve months ⁽¹⁰⁾. Younger employees are also disproportionately affected, losing 48% more productive time than older colleagues ⁽¹¹⁾.

Then there is the hidden multiplier. Manager time spent rearranging workloads, sourcing cover, conducting return to work conversations and coordinating with HR routinely adds administrative burden. Temporary cover, overtime and delayed projects add further. For long term absences, the cost extends to phased return management, reasonable adjustments and, in some cases, replacement recruitment.

The most significant hidden cost for finance leaders is the one that cannot be measured at all: the return to work productivity debt. Employees who return from long term absence without proper rehabilitation and coordinated case management rarely return to full capacity immediately. They may operate at reduced productivity for months. This cost sits nowhere on a balance sheet, but it sits on every P&L.

There is also a compounding argument here that most CFOs have not yet quantified. Early intervention occupational health costs a fraction of late stage management. An unsupported case that becomes long term absence costs significantly more than a case managed proactively from the first sign of difficulty. Without integrated workplace health data, there is no way to demonstrate this, measure it or improve it. The investment case for doing something is stronger than most finance leaders have been shown.

What does fragmented workplace health cost an HR Director?

For an HR Director, the cost of inaction is operational and strategic in equal measure. Fragmented absence management and disconnected health provision do not just create extra work. They make it harder to demonstrate the value of people investment to the board, harder to manage individual cases well and harder to build the integrated view of workforce health that modern HR leadership requires.

The coordination burden is significant. Managing multiple suppliers such as EAP, occupational health, GP access, physiotherapy and mental health support means HR teams spend large amounts of time chasing updates, reconciling data and coordinating between providers who do not share information. That time should go to strategy, not administration.

There is also the data gap. Without integrated outcomes data, HR cannot show the board what health spend is delivering. Usage figures from individual suppliers do not create a full workforce health picture. Absence reports show the number, not the cause, the care pathway or the outcome.

Manager wellbeing risk is another cost. Stress related absence increased in 55% of organisations last year ⁽¹²⁾ and mental ill-health is now one of the top three causes of long term absence for 37% of employers ⁽¹³⁾. Line managers are the first point of contact for employee health concerns and without clear pathways, guidance and support, they carry cases they are not trained or resourced to manage. Manager burnout is a direct consequence of unmanaged employee health provision and manager attrition is expensive.

Board pressure is rising too. Absence rates are at fifteen year highs. Nationally, 148 million working days were lost to sickness in 2025, costing the economy £141 billion ⁽¹⁴⁾. HR leaders who cannot answer “what is this costing us and what are we doing about it” are operating at a disadvantage.

Finally, there are escalating cases. Without early intervention pathways, cases that could have been resolved in weeks extend to months. Each escalation from capability to reasonable adjustments, to potential exit carries cost, complexity and risk for the HR team managing it.

The four hidden costs most organisations have not quantified

Beyond the obvious absence and cover costs, there are four categories of cost most organisations have not quantified but are paying.

(1) Manager attrition. Unsupported managers burn out and when they leave, their replacements take months to reach full effectiveness. The cost of manager turnover, including recruitment, onboarding, team disruption and client continuity, is rarely attributed to workplace health failure and it should be.

(2) Employer brand damage. Nearly half of the UK workforce lacks access to workplace health support (15). Candidates are increasingly expecting employers to demonstrate what they are doing and businesses that cannot answer the wellbeing question credibly lose candidates.

(3) Productivity debt after absence. Employees returning from long term absence without coordinated case management rarely return to full productivity quickly. The performance gap in the months that follow is a cost every manager recognises.

(4) Day one SSP liability. With statutory sick pay now applying from day one, repeated short term absence carries a higher direct payroll cost.

FAQs: Cost of Workplace Absence

What is the current cost of workplace sickness in the UK?

Workplace sickness costs UK employers an estimated £103bn a year ⁽¹⁾.

How many working days are lost to sickness?

UK organisations lost 148.9 million working days to sickness and injury last year ⁽²⁾.

Why is presenteeism important?

Presenteeism accounts for the majority of the hidden cost of sickness, contributing £25bn of the £30bn rise since 2018 ⁽³⁾.

How many sick days do employees take on average?

Employees now take an average of 6.7 sick days per year, up from 3.7 in 2018 ⁽⁴⁾.

Which conditions drive the most long term absence?

Stress, depression and anxiety caused 16.4 million lost working days (5), and musculoskeletal conditions caused 7.8 million ⁽⁶⁾.

How much profit is lost per sick day?

Each sick day represents approximately £120 in lost profit ⁽⁷⁾.

Why does early intervention matter?

Early support prevents short term issues becoming long term cases, especially as 55% of employers report rising stress related absence ⁽⁸⁾.

What increases the cost of absence?

Fragmented workplace health, delayed support, unclear pathways and reactive occupational health all increase case duration and cost.

What Square Health makes possible instead

Square Health provides UK employers with integrated workplace health infrastructure: clinical access, occupational health services, absence support and case management in one connected model, with one employer facing data view.

For the CEO, this means visible workforce health risk managed before it becomes a continuity problem. For the CFO, it means measurable outcomes against investment and a data model that can demonstrate the ROI of early intervention over reactive management. For the HR Director, it means one platform, one record and one coherent picture to take to the board.

The case for doing something is quantifiable. The cost of doing nothing is too. It is simply spread across absence reports, management time, attrition figures and productivity gaps that no one has yet added up. If your organisation has not yet made that calculation, speak to the Square Health team. We can help you build it.