Homebuyer sickies cost UK bosses 100 million

Londoners more likely to take sick days off to move home


Over one in four property buyers (28%) take unplanned time off work to cope with the stress of buying and moving home. Homebuyer sickies cost UK businesses 129 million pounds a year , according to new research by Fish4jobs.

The research was conducted amongst 5,605 recent or current property buyers to see whether buying a home has negative affect on their career.

According to Fish4jobs CEO Jonathan Turpin:
Buying a home requires time and many home buyers don''t put aside enough time for home viewings, solicitors'' appointments and the move itself. The best way to ensure buying a home does not have a negative impact on your career and cause even more stress at work is to schedule enough time off and ask your boss for some flexibility.

The results showed that in London, the number of property buyers who take extra days off work rises to one in three (32%). However, in the North East where the property market is less heated, this figure drops to one in five property buyers (21%).

In addition to getting in bosses bad books by throwing unexpected ''sickies'', other potentially career-damaging symptoms experienced by property buyers include feeling angry (35%), feeling out of control (22%), having problems sleeping (29%), having problems concentrating (18%), experiencing tension headaches (18%) and drinking more alcohol (10%).

Feeling angry because you are in the process of moving home can be an additional stress to your working day and may even make you unpopular with colleagues, said Turpin.

Fish4jobs advises bosses to ensure their employees are realistic when they ask for time off to buy a house. According to Jonathan Turpin:
From an employer''s point of view, it''s much better that a member of staff plans for any last minute hitches by taking extra time off, rather than calling in at short notice and leaving colleagues in the lurch. Also being flexible with employees may avoid too many unexpected homebuyer sickies.

Fish4jobs worked with chartered psychologist and associate director of the centre for Stress Management, Kasia Szymanska. On behalf of Fish4jobs, Kasia has developed the following six steps for avoiding homebuyers'' anxiety for UK workers:

Step 1, ''Get practical'' make a list of things that you need to do, and remember to tick things off as you go down the list.
Step 2,'' Don''t stew!'' Procrastination only makes you worry about things you could be taking action on! Don''t put off doing things that need to be done now, inevitably you will feel more stressed in the long run.
Step 3, Always take regular breaks and eat healthy meals. Even such small actions go towards preventing the build up of stress.
Step 4, Put the move into perspective, There are much worse processes to go through than moving house.
Step 5, Try to stop worrying, as worrying makes you feel more anxious, diminishes concentration and contributes to poor sleeping patterns. If you have planned your move and made a list of ''things to do'' you have done all you can. Remember you cannot control all aspects of the process, it is impossible, Do what you can and then relax.
Step 6, Picture the whole move in your head and imagine a smooth move. Don''t anticipate disaster or your stress levels will go through the roof.

According to Kasia Szymanska, Buying a new property is a lengthy and complex process and is considered to be a key lifestyle change. The symptoms outlined in this survey are very common and can make you more stressed at work. In particular feeling tired and nervous, increased anxiety and feeling more irritable than usual.