Stress-related mental illnesses were the primary cause of sick leave among government employees last year, according to a study published on Monday by Medex, a medical institution associated with the Health Ministry.
In 2023, civil servants didn't work 6.71 days out of 100 working days, on average, due to sickness – a slight increase compared to the 6.63 days in 2022. Single-day absences also surged to 182,240 days compared to 168,829 in 2022, exceeding pre-pandemic levels.
The main reason for sick leave was stress-related mental illnesses, according to the report. These accounted for 40.8% of all absence periods. Additionally, these conditions along with musculoskeletal disorders triggered six in ten sick days.
Sick leave rates increased with age and were higher among female employees. A low education level tended to correspond with higher absenteeism, according to the study.
While absences increased, their average duration decreased from 7.5 days to 7.2. Furthermore, the proportion of civil servants with no absences was lower than in previous years.
Moreover, the report noted a 23.7% rise in long-term illnesses (over 30 calendar days) from 2019 to 2023, while the number of returned-to-work cases with reduced hours has climbed in the past few years.
There were 36,568 checks to validate absent staff's fitness for work in 2023. In 14% of these instances, the examining doctor was unable to offer an opinion because the employee wasn't at home for the check, failing to follow up with a medical office appointment.
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Additionally, Medex found that only 30% out of the 7050 employees who had appearances before the Commission for Early Retirement for Medical Reasons were permanently pensioned off.
Despite the rise in sick leave days, the Health Ministry highlights that the results may have been influenced by legislation updated in 2023. This allowed government employees to be absent for one day without a medical certificate for up to three times a year, applicable to eight in ten single-day absences.
