THE significant rise in sick days across the public sector, which has recently been recorded in the 2025 Annual Report and Accounts, should be enough to make us all feel a little queasy.
The actual numbers are these: public sector staff missed a total of 85,964 days in 2025. This was 10,000 more than in 2024, when the total stood at 75,317 and more than double the number recorded in 2019.
This means the government lost more than 636,000 hours of work, amounting to an average of 9.7 sick days per employee – up from 8.8 the previous year. The overall average working days lost per staff year in the UK Civil Service was 8.2 days for the year ending 31 March 2025.
So, what to make of it? One explanation being advanced is that actually the rise is simply down to better record keeping, rather than worsening health. If that argument is pursued further, then it also means that we now have a much more accurate picture of the state of the workforce, showing the true extent of the problem we are facing – which presumably, has been under-reported in the past.
Looked at practically, it’s still a moot point. The fact remains that (on these figures) public sector employees are taking just under 10 days, on average, off sick each year, significantly more than the equivalent number in the UK.
That is a very serious problem for us all, whichever sector we work in, and one which won’t be helped by the inevitable finger-pointing or stereotyping – there will be examples of exceptional commitment, and the reverse, across the Island’s workforce.
Actually, what’s needed is firstly an acceptance of how important this problem is; and secondly a calm analysis of its root causes. Is it to do with specific workplace culture, and if so, how specific, right down to departmental level? Is it more to do with the policies (or legislation) around managing absence from the workplace?
Is the problem more broad even that that, and actually speaks to the current balance being stuck by policymakers between employers and employees, and the expectations that creates in those who implement those policies?
That is why this data really matters, and our response to it, even more so.
Some seem to be taking the view that essentially there is nothing here to be concerned about, just officials getting better at counting numbers.
Alternatively – if you believe that Jersey has some tough times ahead, and is going to have to work harder to maintain its prosperity, then these numbers are shocking indeed.
