British employees are leaving themselves woefully unprotected financially in the event that something unpredictable happens leaving them unable to work, according to new research.
This is despite the average worker saying that they could only survive financially for around four weeks without their full current salary.
Conducted by insurer Unum, the study shows that 21% of UK workers (equivalent to 5.5 million adults) admit to having no financial back-up, whether it is savings, insurance or even the ability to rely on family.
The provider believes many people are burying their heads in the sand by ignoring the risks of being off work, with just over one in 10 workers having any form of financial protection cover.
It's research shows that approximately two million workers currently in employment have had to take off six months or more, and almost half of all UK workers have been off work for more than a week due to illness or injury at some point in their career.
While employees expect to receive full pay from their employer for four weeks should they be unable to work due to illness or injury, the reality is often quite different as the results show that one in 10 of those who have been off work sick for over a week did not receive full pay for any part of their absence.
Marco Forato, chief marketing officer at Unum, believes it's concerning to see that so many people are living on a knife edge when it comes to financial protection.
He said: "Our research shows that too many people seem to be either unaware that they can take steps to protect themselves against an unpredictable event that can lead to the loss of their full income for a long period of time or are burying their heads in the sand and adopting an attitude of ‘it won't happen to me.'"
"Employers can, and should, play an important role in providing access to financial protection through the workplace, however only one in 10 British workers have some form of cover in place to protect them if they couldn't work.
"Good companies know that engaging with employees to provide access to financial protection both benefits their business and safeguards their employees," he added.
On a regional basis, workers in Wales are the least protected, with 32% (436,000) not having any financial security in place, while their colleagues in Scotland were most likely to protect themselves, as 16% (331,000) said they had no financial security if they were unable to work.
