Concerns about rising absenteeism: ‘Make new agreements about reporting sick’ | Economy

Absenteeism is a persistent problem, notes René Voets, director of Interpolis companies. “The peak in the number of absenteeism reports after, for example, a carnival weekend or after winter sports may seem temporary, but there are continuously high numbers of absenteeism and that worries many SMEs.”

The outage comes on top of the high work pressure that many employees have been struggling with for some time as a result of the major staff shortages and that can cause new outages. That vicious circle must be broken, says Voets. But how? He thinks that new agreements on how to deal with illness and symptoms, such as a cold or being sick, could be a solution.

Before the coronavirus outbreak, many companies had written and unwritten rules when it came to illness. During the corona crisis, the government determined the rules and it was clear that staff stayed home in case of complaints. Interpolis now sees that a different balance has emerged with working from home and that people deal with complaints differently.

“You see, for example, that people with minor complaints continue to work, but then work at home. The danger is that they will continue to suffer from complaints for too long and will still be out for a long time,” says Voets.

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