LONDON, Sept 26 Reuters British workers took the most sick leave in more than a decade during the past year, a survey of employers showed on Tuesday, adding to signs of a lasting increase in ill health since the COVID19 pandemic.

The Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development CIPD said a survey of several hundred employers showed the average employee took 7.8 days of sick leave during the past year. This was up from 5.8 in the last comparable survey in late 2019, and is the highest in records dating back to 2010.

The considerable rise in absences across all sectors is a worry. External factors like the COVID19 pandemic and the costofliving crisis have had profound impacts on many people39;s wellbeing, said Rachel Suff, the CIPD39;s senior employee wellbeing advisor.

The CIPD did not collect comparable data on sickness leave during the pandemic, while separate official data showed a dip in 2020 as furlough and other restrictions led to fewer people taking time off for minor ailments.

Sickness rates were up across the board, but varied widely between employers. Publicsector staff took over two weeks39; sick leave on average, nearly twice as much as employees in privatesector services firms. Large employers also report much higher absence rates than smaller ones.

More than a third of employers said COVID19 remained a significant cause of shortterm absence, although minor illnesses, injuries and mental ill health were all more common reasons. Stress commonly…