(Belga) Hybrid work, which allows people to go to their place of work and telework, leads to a reduction in short-term absences, Securex observed on Tuesday. The human resources company analyzed the data of 15,839 people with a contract in a company that allows teleworking, between January 1, 2019 and June 30, 2021.
People who mostly teleworked (64% of their working time) every quarter between June 2020 and June 2021 reduced their absenteeism rate for a short-term illness by 28% compared to 2019. In the case of telework less systematic (16% of working time), absenteeism for less than a month has fallen by 10%. Without teleworking, absenteeism increased by 6.6%. “We have suspected, for some time now, the existence of a link between telework and the decrease in the rate of short-term absenteeism. For the first time, our figures show it”, suggests Heidi Verlinden, project manager research at Securex. “The typical obstacles of working from home, such as back, shoulder and neck pain, isolation and conflict between work and family therefore do not have a major impact on short-term absenteeism.” According to Verlinden, the reduction in short-term absenteeism is explained by the fact that teleworking leads to a decrease in contacts. As a result, the risk of catching the flu, a cold or any other infectious disease is lower. “In addition, teleworking offers more possibilities to continue working in the event of certain health problems, such as a cold or a broken leg.” However, this presenteeism can lead to an increase in long-term absenteeism: by pulling too much on the rope, workers let go for a long time. “A well-thought-out teleworking policy is therefore essential to prevent long-term absences.” This reduction in short-term absenteeism is also synonymous with savings for companies, 1,500 euros on average per employee, according to Securex. The first two quarters of 2020 have been excluded from the analysis due to extremely high figures first due to the circulation of the coronavirus and then very low figures due to containment. (Belga)
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