More than one third of days taken off by sick by UK workers are not due to genuine illness, a survey has claimed.

The report by the Institute of Personnel and Development suggests that employees calling in sick because of minor complaints such as headaches and colds cost industry around �4bn each year.

Research shows that staff take an average 9.3 days off ill each year, with the cost of all sickness absence mounting to nearly �500 per employee, or at least �13bn to the UK economy.

Those working in large organisations such as the NHS and those employed in the food, drink and tobacco industry take more days off than others, the survey shows.

Stress counselling

Employees with families are often forced to phone in sick to look after their children, it was found.

The problem was reported to be getting worse as more women and single mothers enter the workplace.

Some 1,684 organisations employing almost two million people were questioned for the report which identified the most common reason given for absence as colds or headaches.

The survey also concluded that many organisations are introducing better sickness management schemes - offering return-to-work interviews and stress counselling.

A third of employers now consider that the level of absence in their organisations has decreased over the last two years compared with a fifth that have monitored an increase.

IPD spokeswoman Diane Sinclair said: "With around one sick leave day in every three being taken for reasons other than illness, employers clearly need to focus on people management and development strategies in order to tackle absence."