Already in the first quarter of this year, absenteeism in the Netherlands reached a record high of 6.3 percent. A percentage that was not even reached during the corona period. Although absenteeism fell slightly in the months that followed, more people normally drop out again in the last quarter. Health insurer Nationale-Nederlanden (NN) therefore concludes that the rare limit of 5 percent absenteeism will be reached this year.
This means that absenteeism has returned to the ‘old’ level for the first time since the introduction of the Gatekeeper Improvement Act in 2002. The law, which made employers responsible for reintegration, was introduced at the time to reduce absenteeism due to illness. With success, because in the following years on average ‘only’ 4 out of 100 employees were ill. Those times are over now, it turns out the insurer’s trend report. The number of sick people rose sharply, especially in the hospitality industry. Although home care and nursing are still in the lead, with more than 10 percent sick leave in the first quarter.
In the vast majority of cases, this concerns short-term absence due to physical complaints. Nevertheless, the increase in the number of overworked employees is a cause for concern. ‘A third of absenteeism is now related to psychological complaints’, says Igno Schings, director of collective income insurance at NN. ‘Six years ago it was only one fifth.’ Recent figures from Statistics Netherlands also show that employees with mental complaints spend much longer at home. On average, more than twice as long as employees who were absent for other reasons. Schings: ‘At a time when there are more vacancies than people, that is even more annoying.’
Staff shortage
Yet it is precisely this tightness in the labor market that encourages absenteeism, Schings suspects. ‘You can see that the occupation is declining, but entrepreneurs continue to make do with what they have. That creates extra work pressure for the remaining employees.’
Employers’ organization AWVN and trade union FNV confirm these suspicions. ‘The shortages on the labor market place a heavy burden on both employees and employers,’ according to the AWVN. According to Statistics Netherlands, more than 10 percent of sick employees in education and childcare indicate that work pressure is the main reason for their absenteeism. More and more employees in healthcare and ICT are becoming overworked. According to the FNV, this is not only due to a higher (administrative) workload, but also due to the reduced freedom and poorer schedules.
Organizational psychologist Aukje Nauta of Leiden University also points to the disappearance of cohesion in the workplace. ‘In the aftermath of corona, many employees are less connected to their work,’ says the professor by special appointment, ‘and someone who barely knows his colleagues is more likely to call in sick. In addition, people are more likely to work from home. ‘As a result, employers are less likely to notice that something is going on.’
According to Nauta, it is essential that employers keep in touch with their employees to combat absenteeism. ‘Ask them what they need. That doesn’t have to be a long conversation, but attention is an important part of the solution.’
Cost item
Absenteeism is a costly issue for employers and insurers. Nationale-Nederlanden calculated that this will cost the Netherlands more than 18 billion euros this year. To reduce absenteeism, the insurer also points to more prevention: ‘Make work pressure and financial stress a subject for discussion. It sounds very simple, but it is an important first step.’
According to employers’ organizations VNO-NCW and AWVN, many employers are already doing more to keep their employees happy. Especially now that the labor market is tight, they offer their employees attractive terms of employment, a welfare coach or financial support due to inflation.
Yet in practice, the support is not always convincing: while 90 percent of employers say they care about the mental health of their staff, only six out of ten employees indicate that they actually do. So there is still room for improvement, the AWVN acknowledges. “We need to normalize it to ask how someone is doing, at work and at home.”