Romain Schneider: “Absenteeism in Luxembourg costs 900.8 million euros”
The government report in Luxembourg on the absenteeism rate is clear: it is on the rise and is costly. It seems that we are more absent in transport than in the field of finance …
The results of the year 2020 show that the health crisis caused by the Covid-19 pandemic has caused an unprecedented increase in the rate of absenteeism * which has gone from 3.88% in 2019 to 4.58% in 2020 (+ 17.8%) in Luxembourg.
The magnitude of this increase is reflected both in the evolution of the short-term rate (absences of less than 21 days) as in that of the long-term rate.
Covid-19 and government measures
Among the main factors appearing those which are affected directly from the disease induced by the coronavirus (quarantine and isolation measures, symptoms of the disease, barrier gestures, uncertainties about the evolution of the pandemic, etc.) as well as the measures implemented by the government to counter the spread of the virus (partial unemployment measures, leave for family reasons (CPRF) and generalization of teleworking).
Breakdown of the increase in the absenteeism rate between 2019 and 2020
| 2019 | 2020 | Variation | |
| Average duration of absence episodes | 7.55 days | 9.74 days | + 28.90% |
| Share of employees absent during the year | 55.8% | 56.5% | + 1.20% |
| Average number of episodes per absent employee | 2.93 | 2.7 | -7.9% |
| Average number of days of employment per employee | 318 days | 324 days | + 2% |
| Absenteeism | 3.88% | 4.58% | + 17.80% |
More absent in transport than in finance
The absenteeism rate is between 2.29% in the field of finance and insurance and 6.15% in the sector of human health and social action. In addition, with the exception of financial and insurance activities, the rate of which fell by nearly 12%, all sectors saw their rate increase.
The share of employees absent at least once in 2020 varies from 46% in information and communication) to 75% in human health and social action.
The average number of illness episodes is between 2.3 (Financial and insurance activities) and 3.34 (Human health and social work). The average duration of absences is between 6.8 days (Financial and insurance activities) and 13 days (Transport).
Absenteeism rate by sector of activity17 in 2019 and 2020
3.1% of total compensation of employees
The direct cost of absenteeism, which consists of the amount of the continuation of the remuneration in the event of illness at the expense of the employers (first 13 weeks) as well as the sum of the pecuniary allowances paid by the National Health Fund (CNS) , between 2019 and 2020, from 775.3 million euros to 900.8 million euros (+ 16.2%), thus representing 3.1% of total compensation of employees.
Border countries are no exception!
Social protection expenditure on sickness and health care as a percentage of GDP increased in all EU Member States in 2020. With the health crisis, they have exploded, it is the observation made by the study carried out by Eurostat.
Among the Member States for which estimates for 2020 are available, social protection expenditure on sickness and health care as a percentage of GDP was highest in Germany (11.2% of GDP), fr France (10%) and fr Belgium (8.8%).
Social protection and health care
Nota Bene
* Absenteeism: number of days of absence compared to the number of days of employment
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