DObviously, at the end of this rainy month of May, the screwballs are burgeoning all the time: after the reform of unemployment insurance, the Court of Auditors is tackling sick leave. Objective: to curb Social Security spending on this item which, between 2017 and 2022, soared by +52% (excluding work accidents and occupational illnesses), increasing the bill from 7.7 billion euros to 12 billion. In this case, 8.9 million work stoppages were recorded in 2022, including “50% for an unknown reason”, points out the report published this Wednesday, May 29.
An uncontrolled slippage which aggravates the Social Security deficit by 4 billion euros more than forecasts. “The health branch alone bears responsibility for the entirety of this deficit and its worsening during the year,” accuses the Court of Auditors.
Haro on sick leave
A series of recommendations followed, one of which particularly provoked a reaction: the end of compensation by Social Security for work stoppages of less than eight days, for a saving estimated at 470 million euros. After a wave of indignation, the Court of Auditors published an update on its site. Health Insurance would only provide compensation from the eighth day of sick leave, instead of the current fourth. Leaving employers free to take responsibility for maintaining wages until the seventh day. Which, for stoppages lasting more than eight days, would represent 945 million euros in savings.
Finally, a day of public order deficiency is also considered, that is to say a day not taken into account by the company either. A measure which would cause a loss of income for employees (less than 0.6 billion euros).
Absenteeism, the war of numbers
Absenteeism on the rise? However, this is not the observation drawn up by the 2024 Absenteeism and Social Performance Observatory, carried out each year via a cross-survey between Ifop and the insurance consulting and brokerage group Diot-Siaci.
“Subliminal message sent to employees, assimilated to slackers”
Through an in-depth and contrasting analysis, the survey reports decreasing absenteeism in 2023, with a rate of 5.06%, compared to 5.64% in 2022. On average, 38% of French employees say they have been absent at least once in 2023; they were 45% in 2022, a year marked by the health crisis.
Professional wear
On the other hand, the Observatory calls for “vigilance”, particularly in terms of “professional wear and tear”. Example: the drop in absenteeism is more evident among men (-13.9%) than among women (-6.3%). “Because they are over-represented in the most physically and mentally exposed professions, such as teaching, the health sector, intermediate professions, in direct contact with the public or working odd hours,” explains Fabienne Gomant, director deputy of the Opinion, society and environment expertise division at Ifop.
In fact, if 44% of sick leave in 2023 were due to an “ordinary illness”, 35% would be due to “severe fatigue” and 21% to “psychosocial risks”. In the same vein, 64% of employees consider working in a job likely to have negative consequences on their mental health; 55% on their physical health.
Finally, 16% of absences are directly linked to work accidents and occupational illnesses, “a record level”, supports Sabeiha Bouchakour, director of QVT (quality of life at work) Absenteeism prevention within the Diot-Siaci group, citing “indicators occupational health conditions which are deteriorating. Incidentally, “60% of sick employees also do not take time off and telework,” she adds.
“The French, slackers”?
On the ground, the recommendations of the Court of Auditors make you cough. The Dr Alice Alvarez, president of the National Occupational Health Association of Hospitalists, takes a dim view of the “subliminal message sent to employees, assimilated to slackers,” she denounces. “Stoppages of convenience remain on the margins,” says the doctor, evoking on the contrary “the professional conscience of agents, aware that any absence increases the workload of colleagues and calls into question the quality of patient care” , she continues, recalling the importance of “physical and psychological constraints” in health professions.
“Injuries are common: hospital workers are subject to back pain, shoulder pain and muscle tears. » For the Dr Alvarez, “the cessation of compensation for a week amounts to removing a quarter of the income from an already not fantastic salary. It’s unfair,” she insists. The risk ? “Presenteeism. That agents come to work when they are not able to carry out their missions. And that, as a result, they put teams in difficulty and patients in danger. »
