So the chancellor's announcement on clamping down on sick absence comes as a double whammy.

Sickness absence This document provides a quarterly update of sick absence figures in the Department.

Civil Service website - Civil Service sickness absence [external website] The Cabinet Office will continue to publish its own sick absence data quarterly.

The Home Affairs Select Committee report, when the Committee looked at sick leave, for example, found that some progress could be made in improving on the sick absence record of police officers.

If the levels of your sickness absence are high, we will talk with you to find out why this is so.

The costs of sickness absence to the government and to industry are substantial.

Rates of sickness absence are expressed per 100 person years.

We had requested a report on sickness absence for this year.

One estimate puts the cost in terms of sickness absence alone at over £700 million a year.

Mental health issues are one of the most common factors in long-term sickness absence.

Trends in sickness absence since the 1950s suggest that these costs are likely to increase.

We have used sickness absence as a measure of morbidity.

Doctors may only issue a fit note after seven calendar days of sickness absence.

These risk factors accounted for about one third of the grade differences in sickness absence.

Most participants (94%) gave consent for follow up based on their sickness absence records.

Doctors are not required to provide a Statement for any period of sickness absence lasting seven days or less.

Employers should avoid making snap decisions in cases of sickness absence.

The government announced a review into sickness absence, to explore ways to help more people stay in work and reduce costs.

For women, there was no clear relation between alcohol consumption and sickness absence.

It had no basis in anything I had said, my work or sickness absence record.

This will give employers greater flexibility in managing sickness absence.

The grade differences in sickness absence were present in all age groups.

The relation between alcohol consumption and sickness absence will be reported elsewhere.

Similar grade differences in both short and long spells of sickness absence were observed.

Several explanations for the persistent grade differences in sickness absence need to be considered.

Some of the risk factors identified, such as the work characteristics, could be modified to reduce sickness absence.

We actively monitor sickness absence levels and record the amount of time that people are unable to come to work.

Please remind your staff that these procedures must be followed for all sickness absences.

Increased longevity results in increased dependency in old age, while on the other hand, increased investment in health has been accompanied not by falling but by rising rates of sickness absenteeism from work.