Whether they are doctors, laboratory technicians, nurses or radiology technicians, caregivers worked well beyond the 40 hours required by their employment contract in 2023. If the number of overtime hours in the health sector had already reached record levels during the covid-19 pandemic, it has increased further, according to figures presented by the Minister of Health, Martine Deprez (CSV).
Last year, 362,000 hours of overtime were worked by Luxembourg caregivers, indicates the minister in a parliamentary response addressed to MP Marc Baum (Déi Lénk). Five years earlier, the number of overtime hours for the health and social action sectors stood at 163,379. This represents a near doubling of additional activity.
Disparities according to structures
In detail, 8,700 people worked beyond the limits imposed by their employment contract in 2023. According to the data presented by the minister, certain health establishments are more affected than others by this trend. This is particularly the case for social action activities without accommodation for the elderly and disabled people, for which the increase in overtime has increased by 318% in six years.
Hospital activities, which account for a third of overtime worked, have observed an increase in their overtime hours of 57% over the last six years. Furthermore, social accommodation activities for elderly or physically disabled people recorded an increase in their overtime hours of 44.1% over the same period. Note that although these structures are recording strong progress, all health and social action entities remain affected by the phenomenon.
Absenteeism and shortage of caregivers
Justified in 2020 and 2021 by the health crisis, the increase in overtime therefore continued beyond the peak of infections linked to covid-19. A situation that Martine Deprez first explains by the increase in absenteeism. If the minister specifies that it is not possible to precisely determine the role played by staff absences, she recalls that the reduction in the number of available workers automatically leads to a temporary increase in the workload of the caregivers present. .
In the health sector, the rate of absenteeism due to illness increased from 5% in 2019 to 7.1% in 2022 (+41.7%) then to 6.0% (-15.5%) in 2023. But absenteeism due to illness “cannot, however, be considered as the only factor behind the increase in overtime,” believes the minister.
Among other factors, Martine Deprez mentions the recruitment difficulties facing the health sector. Certain professions, such as those in social action and general nursing, are therefore part of the list of professions in serious shortage established by Adem. More generally, Luxembourg is facing a slowdown in employment, which is not helping hospitals and other health structures to recruit. Recruitment has also slowed down in recent months, with the increase in the number of people working in the health and social action sector having gone from +5.4% between 2021 and 2022 to +2.2%. between 2022 and 2023.
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