Pimlico Plumbers tycoon Charlie Mullins says Britain has become a sick-note ... trends now
Britain has become a sick-note nation that is in the grips of a worklessness crisis, the millionaire founder of Pimlico Plumbers has claimed.
Business tycoon Charlie Mullins said in a letter to the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, Mel Stride that Brits are 'too keen to write sick notes'.
He has instead called for a state-backed apprenticeship scheme to combat the problem which he says is leading to rising levels of economic inactivity.
Mr Mullins said in his letter that 'if more young people were able to access a trade then GPs would spend less time composing notes'.
He continued: 'I would go further and make [a state-funded apprenticeship scheme] available as a second chance to graduates they have gone into debt for.'
Business tycoon Charlie Mullins said in a letter to the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, Mel Stride that Brits are 'too keen to write sick notes'
He has instead called for a state-backed apprenticeship scheme to combat the problem which he says is leading to rising levels of economic inactivity
Britain is suffering from its longest-running sick note epidemic for a quarter of a century with the youngest and oldest workers driving the trend, analysis shows
The letter comes following comments made by Mr Stride last month where he raised concerns that the 'normal anxieties of life' were being treated as illnesses.
The Secretary of State for Work and Pensions told The Telegraph at the time: 'There is a real risk now that we are labelling the normal ups and downs of human life as medical conditions which then actually serve to hold people back and, ultimately, drive up the benefit bill.'
Earlier this year it was revealed that the UK loses on average 146.6 million days a year to sickness, which hits economic outlook and affects growth.
This works out at approximately 4.5 days out per worker, however there are dramatic variations depending on where in the country you live.
Welsh people call in sick on average 5.9 days in each year,
