In the UK almost one in five SMEs have suffered significant disruption from staff illness and absence in the last year. According to a survey by MetLife nearly two in ten (17%) businesses were significantly disrupted by staff illness in the past 12 months, with the average cost amounting to 13% of payroll. A third (32%) of SMEs said they can estimate the cost of absence to their business and around half admit they cannot, while 18% admit they do not know how much absence is costing them.