Hot weather prompts rise in absenteeism

7.5 million take time out to enjoy the sunshine

Over a quarter of UK finance chiefs believe their workforces have taken unauthorised absences to enjoy the recent good weather, according to this weeks Reed Accountancy / Accountancy Age Big Question survey.

As Britain has basked in record-breaking temperatures, 27% of FDs feel employees have bunked off to soak up the sun. One anonymous director said: ''We have had a significant amount [of absenteeism] within our production staff. This has cost the company great amounts and has resulted in us having to implement hard measures.''

Some directors were confident their attendance procedures had kept the problem under control. These measures have included the traditional August shut down, air-conditioned offices and attendance bonuses.

Specific sectors of the work force identified as most likely to take unauthorised leave included production staff and sales representatives.

Richard Post, managing director, Reed Accountancy said: ''Although there is often a relaxed attitude to taking unauthorised absences on shop floors or amongst field personnel such as sales reps, this is a serious problem. 27% of the UK workforce is approximately seven and half million people and that is a lot of lost productivity.''