Coming from work due to illness is not just a one-time episode in Europe. It has now become a widespread trend among employees, making nickname “sick”. which drove European economies into reality.
Take France, for example. The number of people taking sick leave has grown so much in recent years that it is counted among French budget as an economic issue with a price tag of one billion euros. German employees are taking more than 19 days off due to illness, a record when the economy is riddled with challenges. This costs the economy 200 billion euros per year, which is the equivalent of 4.5% of Germany’s GDP.
The picture is not too different in the Nordics, where work-life balance is embedded in the culture. In fact, Norway leads the way in terms of absenteeism, with the number of sick days workers have reached 15-year highaccording to Bloomberg.
Unlike annual vacation, to which employees are entitled to a certain number, sick leave is used as needed. There are restrictions on how and when people use them in different parts of Europe. But as sickness absence rates skyrocket, they are beginning to hurt economies struggling with labor shortages and low productivity.
Sickness among UK employees cost the economy £30bn over five years, according to IPPR report from July. Leaders now pay more attention than ever: former prime minister Rishi Sunak called the “sickness culture” a threat to the social safety net.
“Rising levels of sickness absence in the UK are causing not only huge costs to the economy, but also significant implications for businesses, which are understaffed and have major skills gaps in their workforce,” Lydia Christie, legal director at law firm Howard Kennedy, said. Wealth. “This also puts an additional strain on those staff at work who have to try and fill the gaps.”
What about Europe and why is absenteeism related to illness such a problem in the region?
Why is so much of Europe on sick leave?
The factors vary depending on where you look, but they are linked to one or more of the following: mental health, an overly generous welfare system and cultural factors.
People not only take more sick leave, but are also absent for longer. The COVID-19 pandemic has drawn people’s attention to physical and mental health concernssuch as long-term illness, depression and anxiety, which have now become a major driver of absenteeism. It also raised a bigger problem inactivity of workers in Great Britain
Europe has always offered generous social benefits in the workplace, making it an example for other regions to aspire to. But those perks could be damaging. In France, for example, national health insurance kicks in on the fourth day someone is sick and pays around 50% of their salary within certain threshold. Germany allows workers to take up to six weeks of paid sick leave, which it criticizes they slammed like too much.
Broader cultural factors are also at play. Gallup found in 2022 that Europeans “work to live” rather than “love to work”, resulting in lower employee engagement than in other parts of the world.
Top executives have noticed that employees’ relaxed attitudes spill over into the workplace.
Nicolai Tangen, CEO of Norway’s $1.6 trillion sovereign wealth fund, said earlier this year that Europeans do not work as hard as their American peers and lack career ambition in their search for work-life balance.
Absence from work does not help anyone – neither companies nor the economy. But if taken when employees really need them, they improve productivity, said OECD employment expert Christopher Prinz.
“We want people who are sick to be on sick leave. There is a strong argument that sick leave schemes actually help productivity, health and labor market participation,” he told Financial Times last month.
Countries must strike a delicate balance between encouraging employees to take sick leave and discouraging them from taking sick leave, which can result in economic hardship. But this could be the key to Europe’s brewing productivity battle, making it all the more important for policymakers and companies to play their cards right.
