"Absenteeism" costs the United Kingdom a huge amount of money, however even more embarassingly British Management are  measured by their overseas counterparts, as less than competent, because they seem unable or incapable of controlling Absenteeism. Primarily British Management applies the culture of...... Absence Indifference (a danger exists that poor attendance is socially acceptable) Entitlement Mentality (a culture that needs changing now) Under Reporting (everyone admits to it, so are the current figures close to the truth?) Long Term Sick (how dire are its'consequences?) Medicalising (is it the easy way to report absence?) Do you have a Superb HR System? (which none of your line management can be bothered to use.) Actually controlling "absenteeism" is not terribly difficult. it requires, careful monitoring, even handed management, clear reporting and following up and facing up to problematic areas. We have a very effective system, but you need to contact us. There are some Managers who have woken up and smelt the coffee, realising that ultimately owners, the government and shareholders will start to dismiss them for their gross incompetence, increase redundancies, close down businesses and reduce investment. If you have smelt the coffee, please contact us, if you haven't Good Luck or Bonne chance. UK bosses suspect that one in eight of all UK workplace absences are due to staff faking illness, research by the CBI suggests. Managers told the CBI they believed many employees faked illness to take a Monday or Friday off work. It said employers must clamp down on staff taking "sickies" which it said cost the economy about £1.6bn. About 400 employers were surveyed. They said they believed that 12% of days off taken by workers were not genuine. But in response, the TUC said that "unsympathetic" bosses meant many ill employees went to work. The survey suggested there was a correlation between absences and major sporting events. 'Extra holiday' Overall workplace absence, including genuine illness, cost the economy about £13.4bn in 2006, the CBI added. Workers took an average of seven days off sick in 2006, it said. There is a culture of absenteeism in some workplaces that must be addressed Susan Anderson, CBI  This was about half a day more than in the previous year and equated to the loss of 175 million working days. Public sector workers had the highest average absence at nine days per worker. This was 44% higher than in the private sector, despite government efforts to trim the number of days taken off sick, the CBI said. Some workers felt they had the right to use sickies to give themselves a long weekend or a longer holiday, said the CBI's director of human resources policy, Susan Anderson. As well as the financial burden, this put pressure on colleagues, she said. "Everybody gets sick and employers understand that most absence is genuine," Ms Anderson said. "It is in no-one's interest if staff come to work when they are not well," she said. "But there is a culture of absenteeism in some workplaces that must be addressed." The variation in absenteeism showed that some firms were managing the problem better than others, she added. 'Tiny minority' But TUC general secretary Brendan Barber said that most people who took time off sick were genuinely ill. Staff often came into work when sick because of the "unsympathetic" attitude of bosses to people phoning in sick, he said. "Every organisation should have a sickness absence policy that allows staff to take days off work without feeling guilty as well as dealing fairly with the tiny minority who take sickness leave that is not genuine," Mr Barber said. Last year, the Amicus union was involved in a row with employers after it was accused of advising people how to take sickies to watch the World Cup. On its website, the union said it was "difficult to prove someone is not really sick" and offered a line of defence to workers who are caught out. Story from BBC NEWS: