CNV: Sick employee feels increasing pressure from the boss | Economy

This is the conclusion of a survey conducted by the CNV trade union among 2,600 of its members. The outcome was the same in all sectors of the labor market, such as healthcare, education and transport. The survey comes a day after the cabinet warned that the tightness in the labor market ‘will remain a structural problem’.

The employees indicated that their boss exerts pressure by calling after only a few days of illness to ask ‘when someone will come again’. “Calling is fine, but the question is then how someone is doing, not when he or she will come again. And we see that employers are calling faster and faster,” says a CNV spokesperson. A quarter of employers also have external agencies, such as a reintegration agency, call if the illness lasts longer.

“We understand that employers are up due to the tight labor market, but this is harmful behavior. Forcing leads to people being able to drop out for a long time, especially at a time when there is a lot of psychological absenteeism,” says CNV chairman Piet Fortuin.

The union poll shows that half of the employees feel embarrassed if they call in sick. They then realize that their boss is already short on people anyway. Just over half of those surveyed (54 percent) continue to work when they actually feel sick and 22 percent of people report feeling better sooner than a few years ago. “If you are sick, then really report sick for a few days, which prevents long-term absence,” says the union.

The survey also shows that three-quarters of employees do not feel pressured to return to work quickly. More than seventy percent also say that a boss calling would have no effect whatsoever on the duration of their sick report. Due to the shortage on the labor market, the employee is also in a good position, and his employer will be happy to keep him.

CNV argues that more attention should be paid to disease prevention. Fortuin: “Employers are now mainly busy forcing sick employees to come again. But at a time when stress is the number 1 cause of illness, employers should mainly invest in reducing the workload.”

On Friday, the cabinet also issued a warning. According to Minister Karien van Gennip (Social Affairs and Employment), the shortage of employees in healthcare, education and technology, among others, will ‘remain structural’. “There will be fewer workers in the future. There is no simple solution for that. We will have to accept that not everything can be done at the same time.” The minister states that ‘we all suffer from the tightness of the labor market’. “There are simply not enough people to install solar panels or heat pumps.

Watch all our work and career videos here: