There are many reasons why an employee may be absent from work for anything from a single day to a period of a few months. These may be down to a simple sickness, a family event or holiday, or problems with vehicles/travel. However, one cause of absence seems to be getting ever more common throughout the UK, namely the caring responsibilities of employees in regards to young children and elderly or sick relatives.

Employer research conducted by GRiD Group Risk Development recently sought to examine to scope of the issue, and found that for many employers caring responsibilities have become the leading cause of absences within their workforce.

The report revealed that home and family issues, which often relate to caring issues or the breakdown of care arrangements, are resulting in a high number of absences from work and a subsequent drop in productivity in the office. More specifically, these absences tend to be a result of the provision of care to children and the elderly. A staggering 61% of employers cite the aforementioned issues as the leading cause of short-term absence, defined as anything up to 4 weeks. This figure drops slightly to 49% in the case of mid-term absence (4 weeks to 6 months), and sits at a comparatively low yet still problematic 42% in regards to long-term absence, defined as anything in excess of 6 months.

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