The leader of the PP, Alberto Núñez Feijóo, has caused a real earthquake this week by advocating for a salary cut for those on sick leave. Spoiler alert: this already happens. In the case of common illnesses, such as the flu or back pain, for example, there is no benefit during the first three days; from the fourth day up to the 20th, the worker receives 60% paid by the company; from the 21st onwards, 75% is paid by Social Security. However, there may be modifications included in the collective agreement and other amounts or 100% may be paid, as is the case with maternity or paternity leave, which is paid by Social Security. When it is an accident or occupational illness, 75% is paid from the first day by the company.

"It's a cancer we can't afford". The words of Alberto Núñez Feijóo have once again placed workplace absenteeism in the spotlight. But, despite it being true that people who miss work – for both justified and unjustified reasons – are at historic highs in Spanish territory, what is the situation in Spain compared to the rest of European countries? The answer is unclear, as each country counts absenteeism differently: while all agree that to measure absenteeism, worked hours must be calculated in comparison to agreed hours, the differences arise when defining what is actually agreed. An example of this semantic discussion can be found in maternity leave. In Spain, these are included in the calculation, while in other countries, such as Germany, they are considered not to be hours attributable to the workers.

Feijóo has done it again and, when it seems that the winds are blowing in his favor (with the modest help of the judiciary, the Public Prosecutor's Office, the Civil Guard, the UCO, and a majority of Spanish and Spanish nationalist media, and of the Íbex-35), he manages to show that he is still capable of shooting himself in the foot. And with precision. This time he said that paid sick leave incentivizes the "cancer" of absenteeism and, therefore, fraud. Anti-fraud and anti-cancer meteorite. Seeing the dust raised, spokesperson Borja Sémper took to social media and everywhere else to try to clarify the message: it was worse, because in this case the message was Sémper himself. Recently, the most syrupy spokesperson for the extreme right had to take paid sick leave, precisely for cancer treatment. Subsequent attempts by the party to make it seem that Feijóo had not said what he had indeed said have also not been very useful.Garamendi and Sánchez Llibre –a quasi-comic pair of skinflints– pointed out that Feijóo demonstrates “sensitivity” to a problem that “employers” have been denouncing for some time. An exquisite sensitivity. It would be necessary to know, on the other hand, with more precision, which "employers" they are referring to. Are they the kind of employers, perhaps, who exploit undocumented immigrants while demanding a hard line against dinghy crossings? Those who force employees to be false self-employed? Those who refuse to pay overtime? Those who abuse employees in internships? The absentee worker is a being from the same galaxy as the squatter who takes your home when you go on holiday, the Catalan student who doesn't know how to speak Spanish, or the "moro" rapist of young white, Catholic, well-educated and well-fed girls. They are characters who are part of the imaginary of the current right-wing, created from half-truths and complete lies, which serve to fill the scary tales they tell in their public appearances, their rallies, their articles and discussions and podcasts and whatever else you want. In any case, from denouncing absenteeism at work to identifying labor rights as “a cancer”, and doing so from a place as identified with privilege and parasitism as the political class, there is a considerable distance.Feijóo claims to have the cure for this illness: a labor reform (not negotiated with the unions) that includes a cut in the salaries of workers who are on leave. It strongly recalls the labor reform promoted by his compatriot Rajoy, approved with the steamroller of the absolute majority to the cry of “Que se jodan”, uttered in Congress by the deputy Andreíta Fabra, daughter of the corrupt Carlos Fabra, the one from Castellón airport. Almost fifteen years have passed and the PP's doctrine on labor matters remains where it was: now, if anything, with the assumption that precariousness and growing inequalities (and that we live in a communist dictatorship, according to them) justify any violation of labor rights.

We read in ARA that the president of the employers' association of Castilla-La Mancha, meeting with other employers at one of those gatherings they hold from time to time (at the CEOE assembly), has denounced or perhaps criticized that young people request sick leave for sentimental reasons. "Now we have a sick leave not because the company has mistreated them, but because their girlfriend has left them," he said. And he also said, when he had already gained momentum, that young people are "idiots" and that anything that happens to them at work is already a problem.

Josep Sánchez Llibre (Vilassar de Mar, 1949), re-elected president of Foment del Treball less than a month ago, prioritizes the fight against absenteeism and plans to have a white paper with solution proposals ready by the first fortnight of September. He already has the list of professionals who will prepare it and explains it in this interview with ARA, conducted during a break at the Annual Meeting of the Cercle d'Economia.

Labour 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%.

The dean of one of the faculties at Pompeu Fabra University (UPF) lashed out a month ago at the absenteeism, lack of commitment, and disrespect of some first-year students. He expressed this in an email he sent to 1st and 2nd-year degree students, in which he explained that they have observed low levels of class attendance and "deficient involvement in following the subjects".

Few surprises. Josep Sánchez Llibre has collected 300 endorsements out of the minimum 50, representing about 1,800 votes, two-thirds of those from the general assembly. This will allow him to lead a third term at the head of Foment del Treball, until 2030. The elections, which were supposed to be in July, have been moved forward to May 18,, the day on which the fact of there being no other candidacy means he can be proclaimed president by the general assembly. One of the main objectives of the new term will be to combat labor absenteeism, with the commitment to prepare a white paper with proposals involving all economic and social agents. Another of the priorities will be to reduce tax pressure, he explained during an event at the Reial Cercle Artístic de Barcelona, with the attendance of more than 60 businessmen and executives who support him. The period for submitting candidacies ended this Friday.

The article published in ARA last Friday about a UPF dean's circular complaining about students' absence from university garnered an impressive number of comments, which, taken together, probably already state the bulk of what I will expound on next. I cannot help but react because a lifetime of work at the university compels me to, even more so knowing and appreciating the Faculty of the dean who complained, and considering how many times we professors have spoken.

The president of Pimec, Antoni Cañete, has proposed an agreement with the government, parties, and unions to utilize the 60 million from the agreement with Social Security to strengthen primary care and reduce absenteeism. In this way, he insists on the warning he already gave in an interview with ARA, in which he warned that these resources are not being executed and must be returned.

Since the outbreak of the covid-19 pandemic, which altered the usual functioning of classes, attendance at Catalan universities has been weakening. However, since university education is not compulsory, there is no official data on this type of absenteeism. Now, however, the Autonomous University of Barcelona (UAB) has published the first report by a public university on this phenomenon, which concludes that 40% of its student community does not attend class in some subjects.

The traps in solitaire of some economists and politicians require that many others must be attentive so as not to lose touch with the economic reality in which intervention is desired. Thus, when they tell us that income is improving, and that employment is improving even more, they are indirectly telling us that productivity is falling; sometimes to imply later that this drop is due to the lack of effort of the workers, ignoring the role of business surpluses in the accompaniments of technology to labor. Likewise, it is frightening to see how some pride themselves on job creation, despite the extremely high unemployment rate that Spain maintains (and would have more if we correctly counted the number of unemployed). Let us remember that fixed-term discontinuous employees are not considered unemployed, even though they receive benefits, and that, therefore, ingenuity must be forced to calculate the effectively employed population.

The GDP of the Catalan and Spanish economies has been growing at double the rates of the major European economies for several years, unemployment is falling, and inflation is trending toward the 2% target. Clearly, the macroeconomic figures paint a picture of a thriving economy. However, there is a growing perception among citizens and businesses that things aren't as good as they seem on the ground; rather, there's a general feeling that economic and social problems are piling up and that, despite the positive figures, things aren't quite working. More importantly, there's a sense that action is needed to prevent things from getting worse.

The current situation is positive. Growth prospects remain good for this newly begun 2026. In general, Spanish companies are more optimistic than their European counterparts, although several variables cloud their potential, such as high tax rates and absenteeism—especially sick leave—according to employers' organizations. These are essential elements, they affirm, for improving competitiveness and productivity. A key positive point is exports—once the initial shock of tariffs in the trade policies implemented by Donald Trump in the US has subsided—despite geopolitical instability, according to the survey results. Business Outlook 2026 which are prepared annually by European chambers of commerce, including the Spanish chamber, chaired by José Luis Bonet.

The president of the Family Business Institute (IEF), Ignacio Rivera, stated this Tuesday that companies and their executives are concerned about the "electoral mode" in which the political situation is currently taking place, and that it is "lasting longer and longer." In a meeting with journalists after closing the 28th IEF congress, held in Burgos, Rivera called on politicians to focus on solving problems and stressed the importance of "talking," because "the challenges we face are clear."