
When we think of the reasons for employee absenteeism, we often think of back pain, wrist strain or stress leave. Yet while musculoskeletal (MSK) and anxiety-related conditions account for a significant proportion of absences, we tend to forget the heavy toll that cancer takes on the workplace.
According to the New Zealand government, work-related diseases are responsible for an estimated 516 to 804 lives lost per year and as many as 20,000 new disease occurrences. Of these, work-related cancer plays a considerable role[i]. In addition, cancer carries a significant economic burden with far-reaching implications. One UK estimate puts yearly cancer costs at £5.5 billion in lost productivity due to the time off needed for both patients and their caregivers[ii]. Moreover, new findings[iii] reveal that nearly one third of employee long-term illness claims in the UK over a one-year period between August 2014 and July 2015 were due Read more