There has never been this much before sick leave in the province of Alicante. This activity recovery The post-pandemic economy has pushed employment in the state to an all-time high, but at the same time The number of temporary disability processes has increased rapidly It’s ‘exploding’ until it reaches levels unknown since the real estate era, due to a widespread disease, and even surpasses them in some indicators.
In this way, the absolute number of cancellations committed last year was exceeded and the total 165,288 transactions initiated in the provinceAccording to the official data of SSI, which represents 45% more than the previous year32% more than registered in 2019 (before the outbreak of the pandemic) and almost 5% more than in 2007, the year with the most procedures to date.
It’s true that the comparison isn’t entirely accurate as the number of contributors has increased in recent years, so it also makes sense for withdrawal volume to increase. Therefore, the main concern is average incidence has also grown. So until last year 23.28 months leave for every 1,000 employeesCompared to 16.86 in 2021 (38% more) or 18.42 (+26%) of the last fiscal year before the pandemic. A volume very close to 23.8 of the housing bubble’s time.
And another indication, prevalenceThe number of workers, which also affected the number of workers taking effective leave at the end of the year, reaching an all-time high of 38.7 per thousand. In other words, what else 23,000 people from Alicante ate the diseased grapes..
This is a common truth for the entire state and has warned the state. businessmenin this recovery discontinuity one of the biggest current problems for keep your work productive; like unionsExpressing his concerns about what this increase reflects on the sector, occupational health of workers. So much so that they decided to include the topic for last. Employment and Collective Bargaining Agreement, trying to find a solution, although it is not easy.
Experts consulted agree to make a point combination of factors One of the most repeated reasons for this increase is increase in mental health problemsobtained work stress. “We are meeting many patients who cannot cope with the workload nor with the pressure they are subjected to”, points out the President of the Valencian Cultural Association. Family and Community Medicine, Maria Angeles Medinanot afraid to associate with changes caused by the pandemic.
A trend also confirmed by the Joint Contingency Area Medical Director in 2019. ibermutua, adela fadonwhich now provides for the elimination of these mental health problems and musculoskeletal disorders”More than half of withdrawals“.
Saturation
In any case, this is not the only reason cited by both physicians to explain this evolution. They also agree to state that saturation of public health and especially waiting lists that’s a lot of records diagnostic testsin favor of more workers who have to take time off while they wait, and that they take longer. To all this, as Fadón points out, progressive aging of the active population (one out of every five workers in the province is over 55 years old) and prolongation of working life.
To all of the above, UA Professor of Labor Law and Social Security David Montoya add improving working conditions such as increased employment reluctance of some workers to exercise their rights fear of possible consequences. “Temporary workers do not take sick leave“, emphasizes Montoya, who also considers the key. regulatory change occurred in July of last year and The dismissal of workers in this situation is deemed invalid.strengthened its protection.
Of course, there are those who think that this change may be caused. specific abuse As the head of the Alicante Social Graduate College pointed out, casualties to avoid layoffs, Maria Antonia Oliva.
for his share ANSWER absenteeism rateone of the biggest challenges harming the productivity of companies and therefore competitiveness and economic growth“and regret permissiveness that exists at the social level in cases of “system abuse”. It therefore calls for the immediate establishment of a table with the unions to resolve the issue, as outlined in the National Collective Bargaining Agreement.
for their own part, unions They also want to handle the situation, but are struggling with the causes that, in their opinion, caused the losses. In this sense, most of them leave from common illnesses are due to occupational situationstherefore, they should be treated as occupational diseases since they agree to point out. javier perezfrom CC OO and Marisa Baena, from UGT. Mental health problems caused by work stress or many cancer cases related to work conditions are some of the examples they give.
A bigger role for partners
Among the proposals put forward by employers and unions in the V. Agreement on Employment and Collective Bargaining to halt the increase in sick leave is the proposal that encourages Public Administrations to develop agreements with partner parties to conduct diagnostic tests and treatments that allow the acceleration of sick leave. Public Health waiting lists. In this way, it is also aimed to shorten the duration of the processes that many workers go through to get rid of health problems.