It’s our first few weeks back at work after the festive break, and let’s be honest, you’d be lying if calling in sick one day hadn’t crossed your mind by now, especially when the early-morning alarm was ringing in your ears.
If that’s you, don’t worry as new research has suggested that regionally, the North West ranks in fourth place for likeliness to call in sick to work compared to anywhere else in the country.
The study from personal injury experts claims.co.uk analysed the Office of National Statistics (ONS) sickness absence data from 2018 to 2022, and they identified a range of demographics – which recorded where, when, and why Brits are prone to ‘pulling a sickie’.
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New survey finds Northerners are the most likely to ‘pull a sickie’ at work / Credit: Isabella Fisher (via Unsplash) | Wikimedia Commons
Every year, the UK workforce loses on average 146.6 million days due to sickness, which equates to approximately 4.5 days per worker, or almost a full working week, and in January especially, employers pay particular attention to absences, as workers often contend with flu season, as well as post-holiday blues, and holiday-related illnesses.
Understandably, there’s no way to record how many of these requests were genuine or whether they just fancied hitting snooze for an extra three hours on a Monday morning after a heavy weekend… but hey, we’ve all been there, right?
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In our corner of the country, people in the North West are losing a combined 16.5 million working days a year, which equates to a slightly above-average 4.7 working days per person.
Taking the top spot is the North East, with 5.1 days lost annually, while the the East Midlands finished in a close second with 4.9 days off per year, and then just marginally-ahead of the North West in third place was Yorkshire and Humberside on 4.8 days lost.
The North West has placed four on the list of UK regions / Credit: Jose Losada (via Unsplash)
When we break down the stats, there’s some interesting variables that people might not expect.
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You’d think the age group most likely to ring in sick would be the youngest, but it turns out that’s not the case, as the young’uns are only losing an estimated 10.2 million days per year – which is 65.2% lower than the average, and instead, with an average of 56.3 million total days lost per year, it’s the 50 to 64-year-olds who come out on top.
Three tiny ‘chaos potatoes’ have been born at Chester Zoo and they’re so cute
Emily Sergeant
Three tiny ‘chaos potatoes’ have been born at Chester Zoo… and they’re really flipping cute.
Born to parents Maris and Albert in late summer, the three rock hyrax pups – only affectionately known as ‘chaos potatoes’ – have just passed their first vet check with a clean bill of health, and now weigh roughly 350g.
Hyraxes are found across sub-Saharan Africa and the Middle East, where they live among rocky landscapes and are most active in daylight.
The litter includes two boys and one girl, and keepers at Chester Zoo have decided to give them potato-themed names – Russ, Spud, and Jackie.
Three tiny ‘chaos potatoes’ have been born at Chester Zoo / Credit: Chester Zoo
Currently, the three pups are a fraction of the size of the adults, which can weigh up to 4kg, but despite their small stature, they have an unlikely relative.
Believe it or not, rock hyraxes are actually a part of the same evolutionary group as elephants, as well as sirenians, which are the family of aquatic mammals that includes dugongs and manatees.
“Hyraxes are one of those species that you have to look for, but once you’ve seen them, they are fascinating to watch,” explained Megan Carpenter, who is a Keeper at Chester Zoo.
“The pups are little chaos potatoes. They are much more energetic than their parents and sometimes get the zoomies, darting about and testing their climbing and parkour skills.
“In contrast, the adults often wedge themselves into corners and grip on to steep rock faces for hours at a time. They’re incredibly well adapted to living among rocks and are much better climbers than you might expect.”
Featured Image – Chester Zoo
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A TV channel playing Christmas films 24/7 is now back on air in the UK
Emily Sergeant
Do you think it’s too early for the ‘C word’? Never mind, you’ve already clicked on this article.
Sure, we may only be into our second full week of September, but given the fact the weather these past couple of days hasn’t exactly screamed summer, it already feels like the festive season is around the corner – but whether or not you think it’s too early to be talking about Christmas, it’ll soon be too tricky to escape from.
Especially not when the famous TV channel showing festive film favourites non-stop is now back on air in the UK.
Yes, you heard that right – Christmas films, 24-hours a day, seven days a week.
If you’re ready to wave goodbye to summer, and in welcome autumn and winter with open arms, then there’s arguably no better way of getting into the festive spirit than with the long-awaited and highly-anticipated return of the TV channel that’s charmed audiences for over half a decade now.
GREAT! Christmas the UK’s biggest seasonal channel, and it’s now live on Sky, Freesat, Freeview and Virgin Media.
You can expect almost four months of back-to-back seasonal movies.
The 24-hour feel-good and free-to-air channel will be bursting with non-stop Christmas spirit, and will be showing a heartwarming lineup of festive films – including some absolute fan-favourite classics that make it to screens every year without fail, alongside some cheesy Hallmark classics, new channel premieres, and so much more.
Harry Quick -
11th January 2024 
