Why is sick leave increasing in Spain?

number of sick leave Shot in Spain. If approximately 2% of employees were absent from work for health reasons between 2007 and 2012, Last year this figure had doubled to 4.1%, With this rate, Spain, along with France and Portugal, leads the ranking of absence from work due to temporary disability among EU countries, where the average is 2.5%, despite the fact that significant increases have also been recorded. .

Concern over the high number of casualties has been ongoing for months, especially among employers, but has intensified with the opening of the negotiating table to cut working hours. “We have a structural problem of controlling medical leave,” lamented a few days ago the director of labor affairs of the Madrid employers’ union CEIM. luis mendez, “It is not possible to understand that the health of Spaniards has deteriorated so much in 2023,” he said. A few weeks ago, the president of the CEOE in Tenerife called for its “elimination” work absence “Without control or justification” which affects the productivity of companies.

What Mendez found worrying was that sick leave due to common illnesses has increased by 12% in the past year. A meaning subsection: it is understood Absenteeism Absence of an employee from his post, which includes both medical leave and unexcused absences, although it may seem that the term refers only to the latter. That is why when talking about absenteeism we must differentiate between these two realities: on the one hand, the number of workers on sick leave – also called temporary disability -, whether due to general illness or a work accident, and on the other hand, On the other hand, the number of people absent from work without reason This article will focus on casualtiesWhich are the types of absenteeism that have skyrocketed with the pandemic.

On the other hand, it should be taken into account that Spain does not have an official global absence indicator, so for this article we have used data on disability leave provided by the National Institute of Statistics (INE). These figures do not include absences due to holidays, vacations or ERTE, nor leave to care for children or other family members, nor absences due to death, nor unexcused absences, which are figures that are used to deal with absences. Some areas are taken into account. ,

However, there are many studies that analyze the evolution of casualties. The report compiles data from the Association of Work Accident Mutual Insurance Companies (AMAT) Work absence arising from temporary disability due to normal contingencies It is observed that the average duration of sick leave has not changed much, with an average of 41 days in 2022 compared to the same figure in 2019 and 43 days in 2016, 2017 and 2018. If only processes of employed workers are taken into account, the data for 2022 is 38 days, also at the pre-pandemic level and less than in 2016 and 2017.

The problem of sick leave is not just a problem of sick leave, as there is general agreement on the employee’s right to rest when sick and to be paid during that period. The problem lies in their cost: according to a study by Umivale Activa and the Valencian Institute of Economic Research (Ivy) published this week, they cost more than 17,000 million euros per year, equivalent to 1.4% of Spanish GDP. , compared to six tenths and 1.2% of their cost in Europe, more than ten years ago.

a multifactorial problem

The results are evaluated and estimated in millions of euros. But what are the reasons that explain this increase in sick leaves? Experts on work absence and occupational risk prevention point to many factors: from the public health system to the inclusion of Generation Z in the labor market.

Mariano Sanz, Federal Secretary of Occupational Health of the Workers’ Commissions (CCOO)Believes that “part of the expansion of sick leave is due to a lack of response from the public health system.” “If they delay giving you an appointment with the doctor, and then with the specialist, and then for tests, and then for a possible intervention surgery or rehabilitation… there is undoubtedly an increase in casualties”.

This is a problem that has also been detected by the Social Security Medical Inspection, where the files are stored. As this newspaper has published, the number of citizens who are not even scheduled for a medical examination before receiving benefits has tripled. Consulted by a medical inspector Independent reported that the “collapse” of the National Health System (SNS) is one of the causes of this traffic jam in managing appointments, which has an impact on absenteeism. He summarized, “Withdrawals are not treated, waiting lists for tests and consultations in specialties are long and this forces these procedures to last longer.”

If you look at the Health Ministry data, you can see that the percentage of patients who had an appointment with a specialist doctor more than 60 days away has increased by almost 12 points since 2018. One month from the same year.

jose maria peiroProfessor and researcher of social psychology at the University of Valencia Valencian Institute of Economic Research (IVY)It also believes that if waiting lists are high and workers have to wait for interventions, it is logical that sick leave will increase.

Peiro points out that in addition to the pandemic, the collapse of the health system must also take into account the aging of the population. something that agrees Angel L. martin roman, Professor of Economic Analysis at the University of Valladolid and author of a good number of studies on work absenteeism. “As the years go by, health gets worse and recovery takes longer,” he justifies.

In fact, this is indicated by forecasts from Gesemi, a company specializing in occupational health and occupational risk prevention, which had anticipated an increase in absenteeism even before the pandemic. “The older you are, the higher the rate of absenteeism: the pathology is more severe and more common,” he told this newspaper. Ianaki InsaustiDirector of Gesemi Health Sector.

strong labor market

If the pandemic had devastating health consequences, it also changed the way the labor market copes. Income security prevented job destruction that could have been much greater and, according to experts, also explains the absenteeism rate.

“One thing we’ve noticed is that There is a cyclical behavior of declines, It is logical that when more people work there are more accidents and more sick leave, because the more hours you work the greater the risk. But it may also be related to the fact that you are less afraid of these losses, because the costs are lower than at other times, in which if you go out on the street, let’s see how you find another job! So it is not surprising that when things are getting better there is less fear,” explains the professor at the University of Valladolid.

Absenteeism stops increasing in times of crisis

Iñaki Insausti, Director of the Jessemi Health Sector

Gessemi provides more data: “From 2005 to 2012, a decrease in absenteeism was observed, reaching its lowest level in 2013.” “It is absolutely true that, in times of crisis, absenteeism stops increasing,” Inousti summarized. so, The strength of the labor market and confidence in finding another job in the event of a layoff will motivate workers to resort to medical leave. They become more easily incapacitated for their professional duties if unemployment is high.

a less committed generation

Experts also point out A generational paradigm shift, in which, in the words of Gesemi’s health sector director, young people are “less committed to their companies”. The reason for this lack of commitment could be “income inequality”, it affects young people more and makes people less committed and it costs them less to take a vacation, Martin Roman justifies.

It also poses a risk in the long run, with Insausti predicting that “when this generation reaches 40, the normality of taking sick leave will be combined with more serious morbidity that requires more time off.”

agreement

Given the reasons cited by experts, the solution to this increase in sick leave, which harms not only companies but also workers, does not seem simple. However, since International Labor Organization (ILO) They add working time and reconciliation as a major tool to avoid absenteeism.

The report concludes, “Organizations that implement work-life balance policies benefit from higher employee retention rates, better results in recruitment processes, lower absenteeism rates and greater productivity.” Working time and work-life balance around the worldPublished by an international organization.

Ghassemi also believes that companies with more flexible options have lower absenteeism rates than companies with more rigid management. However, they deny that teleworking is a tool to reduce the number of sick leaves.

role of interpersonal relationships

Government is talking to social agents How to give a bigger role to interpersonal relationships So that, for example, they can carry out diagnostic tests and treatments in cases of temporary disability (sick leave from work) with traumatic genesis. The idea is to reduce the burden on the public health system, which is overwhelmed in many cities and resulting in delayed workers’ recovery processes, increasing the economic costs to companies and social security.

This initiative is not new. Its general lines were already reflected in the Agreement on Employment and Collective Bargaining (AENC), which the UGT, CCOO, CEOE and CEPIM signed last spring. With the aim of trying to reduce the duration of sick leave as much as possible, the document incorporates what was included in the royal decree of 2014 and calls on the Autonomous Communities to improve waiting times for general morbidity . And this is where business organizations want to move forward: They demand that mutual companies also control registration and cancellations, something the unions refuse to do. Today, by law, it is established that those who have the power to discharge and grant discharges are public health systems, and mutual insurance companies are limited to “proposed” discharges that are later confirmed by medical inspection.

However, IVIE will this year study all the factors outlined in this report and which play a significant role in absenteeism. In addition, it will measure the incidence of sick leave in the coming decades, when the baby boom generation retires, while measures to encourage delayed retirement and partial retirement will increase life expectancy, as well as professional life. .

This newspaper has contacted two women experts on work absence who did not participate in the report. This is due to lack of availability and not feeling authorized to continue research in this field, reasons which are not usually mentioned by their male counterparts. The difficulty is always greater in including female voices than expert male voices. We are committed to equality. So, if you are an expert on this or other topics and want to participate in our reports, write to us.