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Absence due to sickness is costing manufacturing firms up to £610m a year, with continued barriers to rehabilitating workers slowing up improvements, according to a new report.

The Engineering Employers Federation said sickness levels had remained stable at almost seven days per worker over the past year after a slight fall in previous years, which the group said countered the popular assumption that rates were increasing.

But the study of more than 600 firms showed misconceptions about the effect of ill-health, worker resistance to rehabilitation as well as concern about the level of protection offered by the Disability Discrimination Act.

EEF chief medical adviser Professor Sayeed Khan said: "Promoting rehabilitation in the workplace is the single biggest factor that government, employers, employees and healthcare professionals can address in tackling our sickness absence record."

The report also found that two out of five employees took no time off sick, while younger staff were more likely to suffer from stress than older employees.

Professor Mike O'Donnell of insurance firm Unum, which helped with the study, said: "We know that many of the things that prevent people from returning to work are unrelated to their actual health condition.'' Dame Carol Black, national director for health and work, who has conducted a review into workers' health, said the results of the survey supported one of her key proposals, the setting up of a so-called Fit for Work service to help firms and workers tackle sickness absence issues.

She said: "The survey also highlights mental health problems, an area where there needs to be early intervention to prevent such problems becoming long-term and leading to people losing their jobs.''

1:24pm Monday 9th June 2008

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