Welcome to the Absence Management Town in association with Aviva.

Workplace absence costs the UK a staggering £12bn each year, according to the Confederation of British Industry.

The problem affects all types of business - from offices to transport companies and from retail to engineering.However, each business sector has its own specific problems. While disorders such as stress are on the rise in the more sedentary occupations such as office work, employers in manual industries struggle to prevent or minimise problems such as musculoskeletal complaints.

In addition, employers in different industries each face their own challenges when it comes to meeting the increasing number of legislative and regulatory burdens from government agencies.

The Health Insurance Absence Management Town, produced in association with Aviva, has been designed to offer intermediaries and their corporate clients an insight into those different problems.

Click on different industries to reveal the average period of absence in each industry. The Absence Management Town also highlights particular health risks that each business might face and the key areas of legislation which employers and their intermediaries should know about.

Why not click on the industry that is relevant to your business to benchmark how you are performing?Remember - there are solutions to workplace absence. From robust absence monitoring, through to employee assistance programmes, private medical insurance, occupational health and rehabilitation, health insurance providers and intermediaries are working hard to create increasing flexible and bespoke solutions that will help to cure Britain's £12bn workplace absence headache.

To find out more about Aviva's Absence Solutions visit www.aviva.co.uk/absencesolutions.