New report reveals employers are 'serious about workplace wellness'
Employees are taking more time off to deal with illness or injuries and care for sick family members, according to a new wellness report, with employers' policies on wellness being linked to the change.
The report, released by BusinessNZ and Southern Cross Health Insurance, found most employers now encourage their workforce to stay at home when they feel unwell and this is driving major shifts in workplaces absences.
"The standouts from this year's findings include higher costs of absence and higher levels of sick leave taken, reflecting policy changes and economic conditions," said Katherine Rich, CEO of BusinessNZ, in a statement.
The average number of absences taken by an employee reached 6.7 days in 2024, up from the 5.5 days in 2022, according to the report.
Manual workers have a higher absence rate of 7.5 days, while non-manual workers have a 5.9 days absence rate.
Southern Cross Health Insurance CEO Nick Astwick said the figures show organisations are supporting their employees to be well and that people are actively using expanded sick leave entitlements, which increased to 10 days per annum in 2021, to get better, and to be there for their whānau.
“Perhaps this is a more accurate reflection of the time people need to recover from illness, and to look after dependents who may be sick," he said.
“If employees are encouraged to take the right measures to be healthy they can get back on track more rapidly and continue to make a sustained contribution for longer. This can help drive the considerable costs of absence down."
Stronger employer endorsement
The higher rates of absences come as more employers now endorse staff to remain at home when they feel unwell, according to the report.
"We are now at the stage where around nine out of 10 enterprises are very clear about encouraging staff to stay home if unwell, which is evident across all sizes of businesses," the report read.
Rich described this as the "most important finding."
"I believe the survey's most important finding is that New Zealand employers are serious about workplace wellness and continue to place greater emphasis on workplace wellness in their daily operations," she said.
Cost of absences
Meanwhile, the costs of absences went up to $1,319 in 2024, up from $1,235 in 2022. Last year, the direct costs of absence reached $4.17 billion across the economy, significantly higher than the 2.86 billion in 2022.
"This was symptomatic of increased absence rates and rising costs of labour," the report read.
Non-work-related illness topped the list of reasons behind employee absence, according to the findings. Mental wellbeing or stress ranked fourth.
Rich noted that the increase in absences and its costs may cause concerns among employers.
"However, this is our landscape now," she said. "Organisations need to put measures in place to help keep their people well, in a bid to keep rates of absence and its associated cost down."
The wellness report covered 111 entities across the private and public sectors, which employ a total of 173,982 people, including 163,030 permanent staff.
