The cost from employee sick days in lost productivity for businesses on 2 February 2014 was at £34 million, with an estimated 375,000 people calling in sick, according to ELAS UK.

Around 9 million UK workers have called in sick over the last 12 months, according to research by YouGov.

7% of people made up an excuse about being ill, while another 7% said they were more ill than they were to avoid going into work. 5% made up some other untrue excuse to avoid work.

Employee engagement is another factor affecting work productivity. The latest employee outlook survey by CIPD has found that employee engagement dropped form 39% to 36% this year with men more likely to be disengaged at work than women. 17% of disengaged workers said they are less productive than usual, while 29% think they are over qualified for their role.

Claire McCartney, Research Adviser at the CIPD, commented:

“Improving productivity is an ongoing, long-term project for the UK, but in the shorter term, employers can help employees use their skills and ideas by focusing on developing leaders and line managers who empower rather than control staff and by designing jobs which provide sufficient autonomy.”