Employers are bracing for record sick leave over the next month, with absences already running at 50 per cent above average levels, as the highly contagious BA.4 and BA.5 variants drive a new wave of infections and hospitalisation.

Sick leave from fever and coughs is already five times last year’s levels, with the latest FluTracking data showing 2.25 per cent of people off work from sickness, compared with the five-year average of 1.5 per cent. The data tracks people sick from respiratory illness such as influenza and COVID-19.