I started my business career in 1979, as a management trainee with Beecham. I never worked for a better company. A year or two into the training I learned that on average female workers took more sick leave than male workers, and the majority of workers who took sick leave over a lengthy period were women. This had been common knowledge in both the private and public sectors for many years, but it appears the knowledge was somehow lost in the subsequent 35 years:
From the article:
London MP Angie Bray told the Standard: “People will be surprised by the figures. It is certainly not my experience that women are more prone to long term sick leave.
“But if these statistics are accurate we need to take a closer look at what is driving them.
“Clearly if there is a serious problem then we need to ensure women have the support they need to get them fit and back into work.”
Hmm… women need ‘support’ to get them to work? Just another piece of evidence showing how sound Dr Catherine Hakim’s Preference Theory (2000) is. Her research showed that while four in seven British men are ‘work-centred’, just one in seven British women is. I believe I’ve now alluded to the theory more than 1,000 times. It certainly feels like it. Government policy directions continue to deny any gender-typical differences with respect to work orientation.
