WHETHER the fault is rising levels of ill-health or just plain slacking, workers are taking more sick days than before. In a survey of companies in Europe and America by Mercer, a consultancy, nearly twice as many firms noted a rise in the number of “sickies” taken by staff in recent years than those that had seen an improvement. Workers in Bulgaria took most time off for ill-health, followed by Portugal and the Czech Republic. Employees in Turkey, America and Britain are in rude health by comparison.

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