Man flu myth busted as women take more sick days each year

Women workers are more likely to take time out of the office than men, even when it comes to flu, according to new research.

A study by FirstCare showed that women have taken nearly three million more sick days than their male counterparts in just the last three months. Tackling absenteeism in the office through the launch of its Absence Management Barometer, FirstCare declared man flu a myth after revealing that men and women take the same amount of time off on average when showing the same cold and flu symptoms.

Between the months of March and May 2017, 0.55 days were lost per employee for men due to sickness compared to 0.64 for women. Although that’s an increase by just 0.09 days lost per worker, when normalised to the working population of 31 million, women make up 2.8 million more sick days within this timeframe. However, the gap is closing as men are being encouraged to stay home when ill instead of coming in sick. Although there is change as nearly 20% more men are taking time off and nearly 20% women aren’t calling sick comparted to five years ago, FirstCare is warning businesses it’s a “slow process”.

“The data must be used by employers to recognise where improvements can be made and how to effectively manage staff wellbeing, particularly when being introduced back into the workplace, and how pathways for work-life balance can be built as a two-way conversation,” said David Hope, CEO for FirstCare.

“The north/south divide will of course be the topic of many conversations and assumptions will be made, but what is crucial to remember is that this is a serious report, updated quarterly and vetted by professionals”

Regionally, the data showed that workers in the North East are twice as likely to be absent from work than Londoners, and many different factors have been taken into consideration, including industry sector, medical conditions and age groups to get a clearer picture of the British workforce and the different reasons workers call in sick.

Is man flu real? How many days off have you had this year? Let us know on Twitter, Facebook or LinkedIn.