Brits. We're notoriously hard workers, but sometimes it just all gets too much - especially at this time of year. Days getting shorter, darker and colder, the first seasonal sniffles, the prospect of four months of drizzle and grey – welcome to October.

It comes as little surprise, then, to learn that more and more workers are deciding to stay in bed rather than face the day, with sickness-related absences becoming longer and more frequent– causing more than a headache for employers totting up the cost to their business.

With the loss to businesses through illness priced at £13.2 billion a year on average as a result of sick pay, overtime and labour replacement, bosses are desperate to keep their workers in good health. And, consequently, employees now expect to be looked after. Discounted gym membership and free fruit are seen less as perks than as statutory rights in many companies, while medical insurance and discounted private healthcare are considered an investment rather than a reward by savvy bosses.

Studies show that sick days cost not just money but also productivity, time and morale, leading some organisations to go a step further to keep workers healthy – and save on spending.

Telecoms giant BT is one such employer, having recently launched a new campaign entitled Work Fit – Positive Mentality, designed to help look after employees' minds as well as their bodies.

Mental health problems cause the longest periods of absence (30.9 days on average), together with musculo-skeletal problems such as back pain, according to the CIPD (Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development). And it's little wonder. BT loses five hundred of its workforce every day to sick days taken as a result of stress, depression and anxiety – mental illness, in other words. Counselling sessions and free expert advice on health and nutrition are all provided in a bid to keep employees happy – and prevent them from needing to take as much time off by treating problems before they arise.

As BT's chief medical officer Dr Paul Litchfield said: "We need to help our people get mentally fit for their lives at home and at work. BT takes pride in the way it supports people who develop mental illness but we want to go beyond that and help them avoid ill health in the first place so they can lead happier and more productive lives."

Meanwhile, a new report suggests a less holistic tack for employers going for attendance gold – financial incentives. Legislation needs to be put in place to meet the costs of workers taking days off by part-funding workplace healthcare schemes, according to Nera Economic Consulting for Norwich Union Healthcare.

The title says it all: Sharing the costs, Reaping the benefits – Incentivising return to work initiatives – stating that the government needs to offer employers tax breaks to put in place healthcare initiatives that will get workers back at their desks.

The insurer is calling on the government to use a 'back to work' tax incentives as a key
weapon in the battle to minimise sick leave, with one major strategy being to reduce the time it takes for sick employees to see medical experts.

"The report seeks to stimulate the debate on the role of tax incentives in encouraging employers to engage with workplace health and rehabilitation services," said Tim Baker, Norwich Union Healthcare's commercial director.

"It shows how the market is failing at the moment but how, with a change in relationship between the stakeholders, we could begin to tackle the problem of sickness and absence in the workplace."

In a culture where workers run themselves into the ground working more and more hours - currently the longest in Europe and fast catching up with the notoriously lengthy working days of our Japanese and American colleagues - it seems that stakeholders will soon be sharing more in more than just the financial health of their businesses.