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Business owners fighting long term sickness

ended 17. May 2023

The latest ONS employment data out today reveals that economic inactivity due to long-term sickness is at a record high. Unfortunately for many small business owners, going on long-term sick leave is not an option.

One of our Newspagers has had to continue working despite being sick for the past three years:  “I've been fighting Long Covid, and still suffer from fatigue and brain fog, both of which adversely impact my ability to run my business but of course, there is no SSP (Statutory Sick Pay) for me to fall back on! If I was working, I would have been signed off sick for most if not all of the last 3 years.”

We'd like to hear from other small business owners who have faced a similar situation.

3 responses from the Newspage community

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Steven Mather
Lawyer & Director at Steven Mather Solicitor
I'm not defined by my Chronic Disease. It was however one of the reasons why I left the corporate world to set up on my own. Having the flexibility to decide that 'today's not my day' is great and while there are harder days and days less so, I wouldn't change it for the world. Long term sick is obvious not viable for small business owners and the self-employed, but self-care is, hours off or days off is, looking after ones mental health is, and prioritising your health (physical and mental) is more easily done when you've no one else to account or report to.
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Jenny Blyth
Small business owner at Storm in a Teacup Gifts
From the age of 18 I have suffered with chronic back pain and joint issues, it wasn’t until my early 20s that I got the diagnosis of Elhers-Danlos Syndrome.
This connective tissue and joint disorder caused me to leave two jobs due to the pain, discomfort and fatigue I was feeling on a daily basis.
Becoming self employed gave me the freedom I needed to be able to work my job around the issues I deal with on a daily basis. The downside being there is no sick pay available for the days I need to just rest.
I know that going back to a 9-5 isn’t an option for me, nor would I ever want to leave the business I’ve worked so hard on but the stress I feel sometimes of having to work when I’m in pain just to afford to live is so hard.
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Chris Buckley
Director at Pixel Kicks
It doesn't surprise me that long-term sickness is on the increase in the UK. As an agency owner I see too often people working on small laptops, back arched and neck pointing down.

The conversation around correct desk posture seems to have been forgotten in the last few years, as we've all become far too accustomed to Zoom and Teams calls throughout the day.

We tell all our team to raise their laptop up on a stand, and sit with correct posture. Granted there's times when that might not be possible, but if you're working from home for the majority of the day, it's important to your long term health to actually take a second and think about how you're sitting.

It's almost like we're sitting on a ticking timebomb of muscular issues from our new way of working.

If your job is desk based and 50% of the day you're sat in discomfort, then it's impossible for anyone to be working to their max. Lost productivity, more sick days, depression and anxiety are the natural results.