Should there be such a thing as ‘half sick’? An Innsbruck industrial psychologist is calling for modernization amid record levels of absenteeism that have not been reached for 30 years, and is bringing ‘part-time sick leave’ into play.
On average, Austrian employees are on sick leave for almost fifteen days; a record number was recently reached. Health insurers complain about the high costs. “Although insured people are ill for a shorter period, they are ill more often than in previous years,” according to the absenteeism report from the umbrella association of social insurers (DVSV).
Not a fan of maternity leave like in Sweden
“Sick leave is annoying for everyone. It means additional costs for the employer, leads to additional burdens for colleagues and often leaves employees with a ‘bad’ feeling,” says industrial psychologist Andreas Hermann from Innsbruck.
However, the CEO of the company Business Beat, which specializes in surveying employees in real time, has little interest in the parental leave day, as applied in Sweden and currently required in Germany: “Should a contagious employee come to the office or own costs? Stay home?” Hermann also wonders about this model what a day of leave would look like for a construction worker with a hernia.
However, the introduction of ’25, 50 or 75 percent sick leave’ seems sensible to him. “A bank employee who is on sick leave for six weeks after shoulder surgery may be so fit after two weeks that she could work on an hourly basis,” says Hermann.
Working from home has probably been possible for a while if you have a cold
A positive effect of the Covid crisis was that employees were given the opportunity to work from home. “Why don’t we also use this for sick leave? If you have a cold, you can usually do part of your work online for a while at home,” says Hermann, but emphasizes that working from home is not an alternative for construction workers, for example.
“If someone is sick, injured and therefore incapacitated for work, this should under no circumstances be discussed.”
Source: Krone
I’m Ben Stock, a journalist and author at Today Times Live. I specialize in economic news and have been working in the news industry for over five years. My experience spans from local journalism to international business reporting. In my career I’ve had the opportunity to interview some of the world’s leading economists and financial experts, giving me an insight into global trends that is unique among journalists.
