Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of levels of workplace sickness on productivity.

The Department has not assessed the potential impact of levels of workplace sickness on productivity.

The Department published an estimate of the overall cost to the economy due to sickness absence in 2016 Work, Health and Disability Green Paper. The analyses do not estimate the impact of health on productivity at work but considers the economic output lost as a result of sickness absence. This found that lost output due to sickness absence cost the economy between £15 billion to £20 billion.