The ONS Labour Disputes – Annual Article, 2013 reported the rise in days lost, which comes despite the number of stoppages (any instance of industrial action) decreasing from 131 to 114 over the same period.
There were 50 stoppages in the public sector and 64 in the private sector in 2013, although the public sector stoppages led to more days lost. It lost 363,000 days (up from 198,000 in 2012) while the private sector lost only 81,000.
The sector that lost the most days was education (215,000). This was followed by public administration and defence; compulsory social security (180,200) and transport, storage, information and communication (23,700).
The majority of stoppages (63%) lasted one day, with only 3% lasting 11 days or more.
ONS labour market statistician James Scruton told HR magazine "the vast majority" of stoppages are still down to pay.
"This has always been the case," he said. "Redundancy and working conditions seem to be the next biggest causes, but pay is by far the largest at 94%."
Unite general secretary Len McCluskey told HR magazine workers in local government and the NHS were particularly hard hit "due to policies the coalition has imposed since 2010".
"They have, during the last four years, experienced severe cuts to their incomes in real terms," he said. "No wonder they are taking action; especially when the UK is the seventh richest country in the world and they can also see that the government’s policies are geared to making the rich even more wealthy."
Employment law experts ELAS head of consultancy Peter Mooney put the rise in industrial action down to employees feeling in a "secure enough position to voice their concerns".
"It is vital that wherever possible employers effectively resolve any workplace conflicts," he said. "Failure to react could result in high staff turnover and low employee morale, which as a consequence will severely damage productivity."
