Sickness at work Small firms are counting the cost of sickness among employees. Research estimates that illness cost small businesses in Britain a month and a half in lost (21) last year. A recent (22) of more than 1,000 small and medium enterprises revealed that last year the average small business lost around 42 days through staff phoning in sick, and that this had a serious (23) on 27 per cent of smaller companies. Just over one in ten employees took time off for seven days in a (24) Of these, 9.5 per cent were ill for a week on more than one occasion. In Britain, employees can take sick (25) for up to a week before they have to produce a medical certificate. Owner-managers were far less likely to be off sick than their staff: 3.3 days on average, compared with the 10 days taken by employees. The head of the research team said, ’The most common (26) of absence was minor illness, such as colds or flu, but back strain, fractures and the like (27) for very nearly as much. Of greater (28) is that more that 40 per cent of employers felt that their employees’ sickness may not have been genuine.’ Employers can do more to protect themselves by drawing up adequate (29) of employment that outline the company’s sick pay (30) Enhanced sick pay is then at the employer’s discretion.

A. report
B. enquiry
C. statement
D. survey