Absence rates predicted to rise to 30% as businesses urge new close-contact rules

Employers’ group Ibec calls for changes to self-isolation rules as staff absence threatens to close essential services

Danny McCoy, head of Ibec, says it is ‘inexplicable that the government is not changing the close-contact rules’. Picture: Fergal Phillips

Absence rates in manufacturing and other businesses are expected to exceed 30 per cent this week due to soaring Covid-19 case numbers and isolation rules for close contacts, the Business Post can reveal.

Firms in the food, pharmaceuticals and medical technology sectors are the most exposed and are bracing themselves for high absence rates over the coming days that could require emergency contingency plans to be enacted.

As previously reported by the Business Post, officials ...