Sickness absence among the Isle of Man's public sector workforce has cost taxpayers almost £50 million over the past three years, with around 300,000 working days lost to illness.

Figures released by the Cabinet Office show sickness absence totalled 298,862 working days between 2023 and 2026.

In a written Tynwald question, Douglas North MHK John Wannenburgh asked Cabinet Office Minister David Ashford how much public sector sickness absence had cost in each of the last three years.

In 2023-24, 99,081 working days were lost at an estimated cost of £13.4 million.

In 2024-25, the figure rose to 102,613 days, costing £15.3 million, while in 2025-26, 97,168 days were lost at a cost of £15.65 million.

The average number of days lost per full-time equivalent employee was just over 13 in the first two years, falling to just over 12 in 2025-26.

Mr Ashford tried to put a positive slant on the figures saying: ‘When expressed as average working days lost per full-time equivalent, sickness absence has remained broadly stable over the first two years and reduced in 2025/26, indicating an improvement in overall absence levels.

‘The increase in estimated cost over time does not directly reflect an increase in absence. It is primarily driven by factors including increases in pay levels, changes in workforce size and composition, and variation in the profile of individual absences.’

The UK Civil Service reports an average of approximately 8.2 working days lost per employee per year while the wider UK workforce averages around 4.4 days per worker.

Among the Crown Dependencies, Jersey reports approximately 9.7 days per employee with Guernsey reporting higher levels at approximately 11.4 days per employee.

But Mr Ashford said: ‘Public sector organisations with a significant proportion of frontline health, care and operational services, such as the NHS and similar jurisdictions, consistently experience higher absence levels, typically in the range of 10 to 12 or more days per employee.

‘The Isle of Man Public Service includes a substantial proportion of these operational roles, and this is a key factor in explaining the comparative position.

‘Overall, this indicates that while absence levels are at the higher end of the benchmark range, they are not outside expected parameters for a public service of this scale and composition.’

Mr Ashford says work is being undertaken to try and reduce the number of sick days among public sector workers.

He said: ‘The Cabinet Office recognises that sickness absence represents both a financial cost and a workforce wellbeing issue and continues to take a proactive and targeted approach to management and improvement.

‘This includes a review of occupational health provision with a comprehensive review planned to ensure timely access, improved case management and more effective support for employees, particularly in supporting return to work.

‘We are strengthening early intervention with increased emphasis on earlier management engagement to prevent short-term absence from becoming long-term.

‘There is also a focus on long-term absence with targeted action to address the small number of cases that account for a significant proportion of days lost.’

The Cabinet Office says there is also a continued focus on mental health and musculoskeletal support, the department says, as well as improving the management process.