In February, more people reported sick to their employer. After a year with a historic high number of sick reports, absenteeism figures will also be high in 2023, but now mainly due to the flu.
In February, absenteeism was 5.1 percent, report ArboNed and HumanCapitalCare. In January, that percentage was still 4.9 percent.
The number of new absence reports to the occupational health and safety services rose to 85 reports per 1,000 employees in February. “The increase is consistent with a flu wave. And the duration of absence of a few days was also comparable to previous flu waves,” says Jurriaan Penders, company doctor and director of medical affairs at HumanCapitalCare.
Influenza was the main cause of sick reports in February, although corona also played a role. The health and safety service providers expect that the virus will slowly disappear as a cause of sick reports, also because the government advice on testing and home isolation has expired this month.
Penders thinks that absenteeism can be partly avoided by having people work from home if they only have mild cold complaints.
More staff are also on long-term sick leave due to stress
The occupational health and safety service providers also see staff being absent for longer due to stress. In 2022, long-term absenteeism due to stress-related complaints was 13 percent higher than in 2019.
People who call in sick due to tension complaints or a burnout are soon absent for two hundred to three hundred days. During the corona pandemic, absenteeism due to stress-related complaints fell even further.
