How sick days cost the economy $4.17 billion

Southern Cross Health Insurance chief executive Nick Astwick says the new report shows organisations are supporting their people. (Image: Supplied)

Brianna McIlraith

Wed, 05 Nov 2025

More employees are taking time off work when sick, and it is slowly costing employers more, the latest Southern Cross Workplace Wellness study has found. Southern Cross Health Insurance and BusinessNZ have released their seventh edition of the study, canvassing 111 entities across the private and public sectors employing a total of 173,982 people, including 163,030 permanent staff. The insurer’s chief executive, Nick Astwick, said the report showed “emphatically that organisations are supporting their people to be well,...

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