Clifton Ingram's employment law researchers have taken a deep dive into the latest sickness absence data released by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) to explore the patterns and trends in 2025, and how they have shifted over the last decade.
This year, the data matters more than ever. The Employment Rights Act 2025 has fundamentally changed the rules around statutory sick pay (SSP) and employer obligations – and these figures show exactly the scale of what UK businesses are now managing. With 148.8 million working days lost to sickness absence in the UK in 2025, understanding the data is the first step to managing the legal and financial exposure that comes with it.
The sickness absence data, released on 1 May 2026, presents annual total working days lost, days lost per worker, absence rates, and the percentages of absence occurrences across the UK labour market. The data breaks down figures by region, sex, age group, employment type, illness type, full-time versus part-time status, and private versus public sector.
In this blog, our employment law experts delve into the key data points and offer commentary on the factors that may be driving the patterns we're seeing.
Key sickness absence statistics 2025
We have rounded up the most prominent data points from the ONS data to provide an overview of what our research found:
- The UK sickness absence rate in 2025 was 2.0%, unchanged from 2024 but above the pre-pandemic low
- 8 million working days were lost to sickness absence in 2025
- Workers with a long-term health condition lost four times as many days as those without (8.3 days versus 2.3 days per worker)
- Mental health absences fell by approximately 17% in 2025
- Public sector workers were around 70% more likely to take a sick day than private sector workers (2.9% versus 1.7%)
- Human health and social work lost more days to sickness than any other industry sector
- Workers aged 65 and over had the highest absence rate of any age group at 3.3%, the highest on record, whereas 16 to 24-year-olds were the least likely to take time off sick at 1.3%
- Part-time workers were roughly 47% more likely to take a sick day than full-time employees (2.8% versus 1.9%)
What the Employment Rights Act 2025 means for employers, and why the data matters
Statutory sick pay from day one
Previously, employees had to be absent for four consecutive days before SSP applied, with the first three treated as unpaid waiting days. ERA 2025 removed those waiting days entirely. SSP is now payable from the first day of absence. For businesses with high short-term absence rates, this is an immediate and material change in cost exposure.
Removal of the lower earnings threshold
The lower earnings threshold for SSP eligibility has been scrapped. Employees earning below the lower earnings limit were previously excluded from SSP entirely. That group – disproportionately made up of part-time workers, and those in retail, hospitality, and care – is now fully covered. Given that part-time workers have an absence rate of 2.8%, this change significantly widens the pool of qualifying absences for which employers must pay.
Strengthened return-to-work obligations
Employers now face clearer duties around fit notes, phased returns, and reasonable adjustments, particularly for employees with long-term health conditions. With workers suffering from long-term conditions accounting for 92.4 million of the 148.8 million days lost in 2025 – more than 62% of all absence – this group represents the highest legal risk for employers without a compliant process in place.
If ERA 2025 has raised questions about your obligations, our employment law solicitors at Clifton Ingram advise businesses across Berkshire, Surrey and nationwide on sickness absence policies, SSP compliance, and complex absence management.
The South East: high volumes, below-average rates
Regional absence rates tell one story; total days lost tell another. While London records the lowest absence rate of any region in England at 1.5%, and the South East sits at a relatively modest 2.0%, the South East lost 21.7 million working days to sickness absence in 2025 – more than any other region. That figure is driven by workforce size, not worker health, but the employment law implications are the same regardless of cause.
For employers in our office locations of Reading, Farnham and Wokingham, this is a significant figure. Even a below-average absence rate, multiplied across a large regional workforce, produces a substantial volume of absences that employers must now manage under ERA 2025 rules.
The regional absence rates for 2025 are as follows:
<td">2.0%<td">2.0%<td">2.1%
| Region | Sickness absence rate 2025 (%) |
|---|---|
| North East | 2.2% |
| North West | 2.1% |
| Yorkshire and The Humber | 2.4% |
| East Midlands | 2.1% |
| West Midlands | 1.8% |
| East | |
| London | 1.5% |
| South East | |
| South West | |
| Wales | 1.9% |
| Scotland | 2.3% |
| Northern Ireland | 2.2% |
The persistent North/South divide in absence rates reflects differences in workforce composition. Regions with higher concentrations of manual labour, health and social care, and public sector employment tend to record higher rates. London and the South East, with a greater proportion of professional, office-based, and hybrid-eligible roles, sit at the lower end.
With ERA 2025 now in force, even a single day's absence carries SSP liability from the outset. For South East employers managing large workforces, the volume of day-one absences now triggering financial obligation is likely to be substantial.
Men and women: a shifting picture
Women continue to have a higher overall sickness absence rate than men (2.4% versus 1.7% in 2025), a pattern that has persisted across the 30 years of ONS data. However, the gap has narrowed, and the reasons behind it are more nuanced than they may first appear.
The year-on-year comparison since 2019 by sex is as follows:
| Year | Men (%) | Women (%) |
|---|---|---|
| 2019 | 1.6 | 2.4 |
| 2020 | 1.5 | 2.3 |
| 2021 | 1.9 | 2.6 |
| 2022 | 2.2 | 3.2 |
| 2023 | 1.8 | 2.8 |
| 2024 | 1.6 | 2.5 |
| 2025 | 1.7 | 2.4 |
The 2022 spike – driven by the post-pandemic surge in absence – affected women considerably more than men (3.2% versus 2.2%). Both figures have since returned closer to pre-pandemic levels, and the 2025 gap of 0.7 percentage points is the narrowest it has been in recent years.
Mental health and the gender split
Mental health conditions were cited in 10.2% of occurrences of female absences in 2025, compared to 7.3% of occurrences of male absences.
This disparity may not reflect a difference in underlying mental health, but a difference in how men report it. Continued stigma around male mental health means that male workers may be more likely to attribute absence to a physical ailment.
For employers, this has a practical implication: absence management processes that only look at stated reasons may underestimate the true prevalence of mental health issues across the workforce.
Age and sex: diverging trends
Breaking the data down further by age reveals a striking divergence. Absence rates for men increased across every age group between 2024 and 2025, with the sharpest rise among those aged 65 and over (2.7% to 3.3%). The only exception was 25 to 34-year-olds, whose rate held steady at 1.1%.
For women, the picture moved in the opposite direction: absence rates fell across every age group over the same period, with the largest drop again among those aged 65 and over (3.8% to 3.2%).
Mental health: falling – and now below pre-pandemic levels
One of the most significant headline shifts in the 2025 data is the fall in mental health-related absence. After a sharp spike in 2024 – when mental health conditions accounted for 20.5 million days lost – the figure fell to 17.1 million days in 2025, a reduction of around 17%.
However, this should not be read as a straightforward positive.
The percentage of all days lost attributed to mental health has risen from 9% in 2009 to 11.5% in 2025, meaning mental health accounts for a growing share of overall absence even as the raw figure has dipped. The long-term structural trend remains upward.
The breakdown by sector reveals where the pressure is greatest:
<td">7.5%
| Sector | Mental health as % of occurrences of sickness absence (2025) |
|---|---|
| Public sector | 11.9% |
| Private sector |
In 2025, nearly one in eight absence occurrences in the public sector was attributed to a mental health condition. This reflects the emotional demands of roles in health, education, and social care, and the sustained workforce pressure in those settings.
For employers, ERA 2025 intersects directly with mental health absence. Short-term mental health episodes – previously cushioned by the three waiting days – now trigger SSP from the first day. Employers who have not reviewed their sickness absence policies may find themselves exposed, both financially and legally.
There is also an Equality Act 2010 dimension. Where a mental health condition amounts to a disability under that Act, employers have obligations regarding reasonable adjustments that are independent of ERA 2025. Our employment law team can advise on how these frameworks interact in practice.
Frontline workers: the highest absence burden
No section of the workforce is more significantly affected by sickness absence than frontline workers in health, social care, transport, and manual occupations, illustrated starkly by the 2025 data.
By industry sector
The human health and social work sector recorded a 3.0% absence rate and accounted for 30.3 million working days lost – more days lost than any other industry in the UK. Workers in the sector lost 6.2 days per worker in 2025, well above the national average of 4.4 days.
The industries with the highest sickness absence rates in 2025 are as follows:
1.0%
| Industry sector | Sickness absence rate 2025 (%) |
|---|---|
| Transport and storage | 3.3% |
| Human health and social work | 3.0% |
| Mining, energy and water supply | 2.9% |
| Public administration and defence | 2.4% |
| Manufacturing | 2.2% |
| Education | 2.1% |
| Administrative and support services | 2.0% |
| Wholesale and retail | 2.0% |
| Professional, scientific and technical | 1.0% |
| Financial and insurance activities | |
| Information and communication | 1.1% |
Caring, leisure and other service occupations – including care workers and healthcare assistants – are predominantly lower-paid roles, many of which will have been brought within SSP eligibility for the first time under ERA 2025. For employers in these sectors, the combination of high absence rates and expanded eligibility represents a direct and immediate increase in cost exposure.
Long-term health conditions
Workers with a long-term health condition (LTHC), defined as lasting 12 months or longer, accounted for 92.4 million of the 148.8 million days lost in 2025 – more than 62% of the total. Their absence rate of 4.0% is four times the 1.0% rate for those without an LTHC.
These workers sit at the intersection of ERA 2025's strengthened return-to-work obligations and the Equality Act's reasonable adjustment duties, making their absence management one of the most legally complex areas for employers, and an issue that should be urgently addressed if workplaces do not currently meet the required obligations.
Public versus private sector: a persistent and widening gap
Public sector workers were 70% more likely to take a sick day than their private sector counterparts in 2025. The overall figures are as follows:
| Sector | Sickness absence rate 2025 (%) |
|---|---|
| Public sector | 2.9% |
| Private sector | 1.7% |
The gap between public and private sector absence has persisted for as long as the ONS has published data. The factors most likely driving it are:
- More generous occupational sick pay schemes, which reduce the financial disincentive to take leave
- A higher proportion of workers in physically and emotionally demanding frontline roles
- An older average workforce, particularly in local government and health
- Larger organisational structures, where individual absence has a less immediately visible operational impact
- Higher rates of mental health absence, particularly in health and education settings
It is also worth acknowledging the other side of this picture. Lower private sector absence rates are not necessarily a sign of a healthier workforce. Presenteeism – attending work while unwell – is more common in settings with limited sick pay or insecure contracts. ERA 2025 may gradually narrow the public/private gap, as stronger SSP entitlements reduce the financial pressure on lower-paid private sector workers to attend when genuinely unwell.
Age and employment pattern: where the risk is greatest
Older workers
Workers aged 65 and over recorded a sickness absence rate of 3.3% in 2025, the highest of any age group and the highest on record for this cohort. With the default retirement age abolished since 2011 and an ageing UK workforce, employers are managing more older workers than at any point in recent history.
<th">Sickness absence rate 2025 (%)
| Age group | |
|---|---|
| 16 to 24 | 1.3% |
| 25 to 34 | 1.5% |
| 35 to 49 | 1.7% |
| 50 to 64 | 2.8% |
| 65 and over | 3.3% |
Managing sickness absence for older workers requires careful handling under both ERA 2025 and the Equality Act 2010. Age-related health conditions may amount to a disability, triggering reasonable adjustment obligations, and the strengthened return-to-work duties under ERA 2025 require employers to engage meaningfully with fit notes and phased returns rather than simply waiting for a self-certification period to pass.
Part-time workers
Part-time workers recorded an absence rate of 2.8% in 2025, some 47% higher than the 1.9% rate for full-time workers. This gap reflects the demographics of the part-time workforce, including a higher proportion of women, older workers, and those with underlying health conditions.
<th">Employment pattern<th">Sickness absence rate 2025 (%)<td">2.8%
| Full time | 1.9% |
| Part time |
ERA 2025 is directly relevant here. Part-time workers were previously more likely to fall below the lower earnings threshold for SSP eligibility, meaning many received nothing during absence. The removal of that threshold means this group is now fully covered – a positive outcome for workers, but a new cost exposure for employers whose workforce includes a significant part-time component.
What this means for employers in 2025 and beyond
The 2025 data presents a clear picture: sickness absence has stabilised at an elevated post-pandemic level, with 148.8 million days lost, a 2.0% absence rate, and no material improvement from 2024. At the same time, ERA 2025 has changed the legal and financial framework within which employers must manage that absence.
The key areas of exposure for employers are:
- Short-term absence costs: with no waiting days, even one or two days of sickness now triggers SSP liability for all eligible workers
- Expanded eligibility: lower-paid and part-time workers who were previously excluded from SSP are now covered
- Long-term and complex cases: workers with long-term health conditions account for the majority of days lost, and carry the most complex obligations around return-to-work support and reasonable adjustments
- Mental health: while the 2025 figures show a reduction from 2024, mental health accounts for a growing share of all absence over the long term, and carries specific legal considerations under both ERA 2025 and the Equality Act
- Frontline and lower-paid workforces: the sectors and occupations with the highest absence rates are precisely those most affected by ERA 2025's expanded SSP eligibility
Businesses that have not reviewed their sickness absence policies since ERA 2025 came into force should do so as a priority. A policy that was legally compliant in 2024 may not be today.
Speak to our employment law team
Clifton Ingram's employment law solicitors work with businesses across Berkshire, Surrey and nationwide to review sickness absence policies, advise on SSP obligations, manage complex and long-term absence cases, and navigate the intersection of ERA 2025 and the Equality Act 2010.
Whether you are dealing with a specific absence issue or want to ensure your policies are up to date with the latest legislation, our team is here to help. Contact us at our Wokingham, Reading, or Farnham offices, or by using our simple enquiry form.
Data sources and methodology
This report is based on the dataset: 'Sickness absence in the UK labour market: 2025 data released by the Office for National Statistics', published on 1 May 2026. The data covers England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland.
A working day is defined by the ONS as seven hours and 30 minutes. The sickness absence rate is the percentage of working hours lost due to sickness absence.
Please note that all interpretations of the data are those of Clifton Ingram's researchers.