Workplace absenteeism has become the main battleground for Catalan business owners, and Foment del Treball, the employers' association that groups major Catalan companies, is proposing forceful measures to combat it. Among these, notable on one hand is the implementation of mandatory medical check-ups and allowing companies to access certain medical information of their employees on sick leave, and on the other, the possibility of dismissing workers who accumulate repeated or long-term absences, a measure that was eliminated with the 2020 labor reform.

The employers' association Pimec estimates that sick leave costs the Spanish economy €162.564 billion annually, equivalent to 10.2% of GDP. This data is taken from the report. Evolution of sick leave in Spain 2013-2025, Presented this Wednesday in Madrid by the employers' association for small and medium-sized enterprises.