On the BBC health news page dated July 14th is a report on a survey carried out by Norwich Union. Apparently of the 250 GP's polled 1/3 said they saw a big increase in the number of people needing to be signed off work for more than 7 days.
94% of the GP's blamed employers for not taking responsibility for their workers well being.
Norwich Union also surveyed 214 businesses across the UK, only 38% of them see employee well being as a priority for Human Resources and 4 in 10 do not have any system in place for health management.

I don't know how to do a link but felt it worth pointing this out as it gives credence to what many of us see happening in 'real' life.

Here's the link to the BBC news story GPs 'see big rise in sick notes' -

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/5167654.stm