A "Long Term Sickness Absence" is any sickness period taken out of work that lasts four weeks or more. Using government data covering the 2018 period, these are the jobs where staff are most and least likely to take a LTSA. Percentages have been rounded up in some cases.
1. Care home workers, nursery workers and other care, leisure and service occupations
Workers in this field are most likely to take a long period of sickness. 145,000 out of 2,305000 employees took a LTSA in 2018, putting the likelihood at 6.3% overall for those who work across the leisure, care and service industry. Photo: Shutterstock
2. Factory workers, process, plant and machine operatives
With a likelihood of taking a LTSA at 5.7%, those who monitor equipment or assemble parts in factories are the second most likely to be off work for 4 weeks or more. 51% of the reasons fell under "other," which includes accidents. Photo: Shutterstock
3. Sales and customer service workers
98,000 out of 2,128000 workers in customer service and sales took a LTSA last year, making the probability of those working in the field needing one 4.6%. Photo: Shutterstock
4. Secretarial and admin occupations
The likelihood of needing to take a LTSA if you're a secretary or office manager is 4.4%. Workers in this field were most likely out of all occupations to cite mental health as the reason, with 31% of LTSAs taken on these grounds. Photo: Shutterstock