Is my sickness record too high?

[Orga]

I am applying for new jobs and my sickness record since April this year is 9 days.

Does this seem bad and as an employer, would it put you off?

A chunk of it was Covid but I don't think they will know that - should I tell them before they get the reference? (Most applications don't seem to be asking me for this info but I assume references will)

I have never had more than 2-3 days a year in the past so a bit concerned as to what is reasonable.

Simple answer. No it wouldn't be a problem for recruitment purposes. It would not even raise an eyebrow. Perversely though, if you had that level of sickness in a year after being employed, you'd be placed in stage one absence management! For us ( large public sector organisation) 9 days or three occasions is the trigger, unless you have a disability.

Your percentage is 3.45% in the last 12 months, so slightly high than average but not too bad.

The fact some is covid, is mitigated too.

I would be interested in how many occasions (eg 9 x 9 days would concern me vs 9 days over say, 3 occasions)

Blame covid, most of the banks, HMRC and a million other businesses did.

References generally do not ask this anymore. If it were me I really wouldn't worry - if going for an internal promotion, I would be looking to improve it if possible prior to applying but sometimes it's unavoidable