The public sector should consider introducing health insurance plans to benefit their employees says HSA. According to a survey carried out by the company, staff in the public sector have more sickness absence than any other sector.

The survey found that over half of respondents from the public sector claim that the average duration of employee sickness absence is between six to 15 days. Nationally, across all sectors only 4% of employees on average take this amount of sick leave.

"While almost half (48%) of employers in the private sector say that employees take less than five days off sick on average per year and 37% of employers say staff take between six and 10 days on average per year, only 8% and 67% of employers say the same respectively in the public sector,” comments Amanda Wilkinson, Editor of the survey, 'Employee Benefits'. “This indicates that public sector employers tend to have a bigger problem with sickness absence than the private sector. However, many public sector organisations have limited funds and resources to deal with the issue."

Glenn Rhodes of HSA says: "The public sector comes out the worst at offering benefits to employees according to the survey, and sickness absence costs them the most with one in three claiming it costs them between six and 10% of payroll. This sector should therefore consider bringing in benefits that help employees feel valued, help them alleviate their health problems while at the same time helping to reduce sickness absence in the organisation."