A new report from the CBI (Confederation of Business Industry) this week has revealed that sickness absence cost the UK £13.2 billion last year.

The latest CBI / AXA Absence Survey also revealed that average absence levels in public sector was nine days. This is a shocking 55% higher than the 5.8 day average in private sector, which improved its absence levels over 2007.

A staggering £1.4bn of taxpayers’ money would be saved if public sector matched the private sector average.

Susan Anderson, CBI Director of HR Policy, said: "Long-term absence - such as stress, back pain and other musculoskeletal disorders - is still a big problem, accounting for forty per cent of lost working time."

The NHS, which continues to struggle to deal with people suffering from these conditions, is partly to blame, but arguably the bigger culprit is ineffectual management that lets people drift rather than helping them to get better.

"It’s ludicrous to pay people not to work when the tools to deal effectively with these debilitating conditions, through early intervention and treatment, are so well established and readily to hand, it’s no accident that employers who provide access to this have lower absence rates than those who don’t."