The origin of the term “lies, damn lies and statistics” is lost in the mists of time, but if written today it would be best end ..”and recruiter’s statistics”. The existence of a UK absenteeism crisis has been widely reported recently, based on a news release from a UK recruitment company. The facts are actually otherwise. According to the Labour Force Surveys released by the Office For National Statistics the level of short-term male absence has been actually falling slightly. The latest data for February 2016 shows it to affect 2.7% of the UK male working population, compared to a high of 2.9% in September 2015. Over the longer term it has fallen by over 1% since the early 1990s. Female short-term absence was also down to 1.8% in February compared to a high of 2.1% last July. Over the longer term, temporary female absence has remained virtually unchanged.