Work absenteeism, a growing problem or "semantic manipulation"?

BarcelonaLabour absenteeism has become in recent times one of the main battlehorses for the Catalan business fabric. People who miss work – both for justified and unjustified reasons – are at historic highs, up to 7.4% across the Spanish territory, according to a report by the Valencian Institute of Economic Research (IVIE). However, this figure has been driven by a large increase in absences: temporary incapacities are already the cause of almost 80% of effective non-worked hours and the absenteeism rate for this reason stands at 5.8%.

But, what exactly do we understand by labour absenteeism? According to the definition, it is the worker's absence from work for whatever reason. The data includes employees who refrain from their workplace for a while to go, for example, to a union meeting or a course paid for by the company itself, as well as those who do not go to work for an unjustified reason. Thus, the statistics also include people who are on sick leave or maternity leave, among others.

These parameters, however, do not convince the unions, which consider that justified absence reasons should not be taken into account. "The definition must be revised, as it includes absences, leave, and union hours. We understand that absenteeism is not showing up for work without justification," assures the secretary of union policy of UGT Catalunya, Òscar Riu. For his part, Mònica Pérez, head of occupational health at CCOO de Catalunya, adds that the concept is "semantic manipulation" and that, in other cases, it is not counted like this: "School absenteeism is not when a child is sick and does not go to school, and the same happens with our parliamentarians, who are only counted as absent when they cannot justify it".

The rise in absences

However, for the business world, the main struggle is precisely the increase in absences taken by workers. "Of all the boxes that make up absenteeism, we are concerned about the sharp increase in work absences due to common illness," explains the general secretary of Pimec, Josep Ginesta, who adds that this situation has led "to absolutely unsustainable incidents and costs." Business organizations, however, point out that this rise is closely related to the current collapse in primary care centers. "The system's inefficiency causes processes to drag on longer: many workers have to wait before receiving treatment or a visit," points out the director of the labor department of Foment del Treball Nacional, Yesica Aguilar.

As explained by the professor of psychology and educational sciences studies at the UOC and expert in work psychology and organizations, Sergi Macip, it is true that absences have skyrocketed in recent years. In fact, effective hours not worked due to temporary incapacity already represent 78.2% of the total, whereas in 2013 they represented 63.5%. Macip, however, locates the increase in two axes: "Since the pandemic, there has been an exponential increase in absences due to mental health and difficult-to-objectify illnesses," explains the UOC professor. Difficult-to-objectify illnesses are those in which conventional medical tests do not show alterations despite the patient having symptoms, such as migraines or chronic fatigue. Nevertheless, he identifies that the rest of the main causes of absenteeism, on the other hand, have been declining in recent years.

The role of well-being at work

However, one factor that, according to Macip, helps combat absenteeism is workplace well-being. The expert points out that workers who have more facilities to balance family and work life tend to resort less to absenteeism. On the other hand, the less well-being workers have, the more likely they are to be absent from their workplace. One example Macip points to is shift work, which tends to generate more health problems. The size of the company where one works also influences this: the larger the organizations, the higher the rates tend to be recorded, assures the expert. "Flexibility has a positive impact on records," he notes.

Far from absenteeism, however, unions point out that the real problem plaguing Catalan society is presenteeism. As explained by the head of occupational health for CCOO of Catalonia, a union report indicates that 51.3% of Catalan workers have gone to work sick during the last year despite needing medical leave. Pérez points out that this is "really" the problem that "plagues" the work ecosystem.