Private enterprise employees are away from their work less than public servants, having an average absence level per employee of 4.5 days compared to state employees at 6.6 days.
Last year, New Zealanders took 6.1 million days of work absences, costing $1.3 billion.
These are the findings of Wellness in the Workplace, a joint study by New Zealand's largest health insurer, Southern Cross Health Society, BusinessNZ and specialist injury management provider, Gallagher Bassett.
"In addition, median costs per absent employee in the public sector averaged 110 per cent more than in the private sector. Manual employees take an average of five days, compared to 3.5 days for non-manual. Absence costs vary by size of organisation and sector. SMEs average fewer than 4 days per year, larger enterprises average well over that number," the survey found.
Peter Tynan, Southern Cross chief executive, encouraged policy makers and employers look more closely at the impact of absenteeism .