Against a background of recession and looming widespread job cuts many employers are tightening up their sickness absence procedures, while sick workers are increasingly reluctant to take time off for fear of being sacked or made redundant. This is the main conclusion of a new report of the Labour Research Department (LRD). A survey of 800 union and safety reps conducted in October 2010 found that some managers in private firms were setting “zero absence” targets or cutting year-end and Christmas bonus pay if people were off sick. Some public service workers said they were losing sick pay if they were off ill for more than four days a year.
English: LRD Press Release (news@1.lrd.org.uk);
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ukpress/article …
For more information, please contact the editor Maarten van Klaveren, Amsterdam Institute for Advanced Labour Studies (AIAS) M.vanKlaveren@uva.nl. You may find further information on the ETUI at www.etui.org, and on the AIAS at www.uva-aias.net. © ETUI aisbl, Brussels 2010.