Work absenteeism due to illnesses increases and costs for businesses will reach 280 million US dollars.

An average of 10.4 total days per worker were lost in the last 12 months due to work absenteeism due to illness.

As indicated by the indicator developed by the Santiago Chamber of Commerce (CCS). ) together with the company Immune, referred to as "index of absenteeism due to illness or common accident", which recorded a rate of 5.27% between September 2017 and August 2018. This figure is constructed in comparing the number of days of employees' failure to work for medical licensing reasons versus the total number of days I had to work.

This result is 1.32% higher than that recorded between September 2016 and August 2017, which reached 5.2%, or 9, 3 days of absenteeism.

Yesterday, during the presentation of this index – in the presence of the Minister of Economy, Jos Ramn Valente – he also realized that 81% of the absenteeism was the same. explained by medical licenses. of common origin, which increased by 22% between 2012 and 2016 (see infografa)

The report also states that the number of license increases does not correspond to the 8% increase the number of contributors entitled to a medical license during the same period. In addition, expenses related to these exemptions increased by 42% during the period.

With regard to the costs of absenteeism arising from licenses, they would rise to about 1,600 million US dollars. annual direct for the health system. This amount includes unjustified or fraudulent licenses, which represent approximately 23% of the total.

To these expenses are added the annual 282 million US dollars that companies must commit directly, each time. that a worker uses a medical license, estimates the badysis.

According to George Lev, who is responsible for the studies of the CCS, in addition to the fact that these certificates are well or badly issued, absenteeism generates a financial impact. for the economy

"Two things happen: on one side, there is the phenomenon of absenteeism, which are workers who can not go to work, therefore they stop producing and eventually replace them at a cost.The replacements usually have lower productivity than the regular worker, "says the economist.

Absenteeism by day and by line

The study conducted by Immune and CCS also indicates the days when there is more absenteeism. According to the sample, 14.9% of licenses correspond to Fridays, followed by Thursdays and Wednesdays.

By age group, the greatest absences from work are for workers aged 55 or over. Minor absences are concentrated in the range of 20 to 34 years. However, in this section, the percentage increase was the highest, reaching 22% in the last 12 months.

By bad, absences due to illness or common accident were 3.3% for men and 7%. 4% for women.

Construction is the sector of the economy that has a higher degree of absenteeism, reaching 8.8% of the total sample. Next come services, with 6.1%. The lowest index is given in Agriculture and Fisheries, with 3.8%.

The study also took into account the effects on productivity, which are mainly related to the loss of working time of the affected person and the decrease in productivity.

The results of the study were based on a sample of approximately 50,000 workers and more than 74,000 medical insurance licenses in 20 companies of different categories.

SAMPLE
The report was developed with data. 50,000 workers and more than 74,000 medical licenses in 20 companies in different regions.