Page 113 - Petelin, Ana. 2020. Zdravje delovno aktivne populacije / Health of the Working-Age Population. Zbornik povzetkov z recenzijo ▪︎ Book of Abstracts. Koper: Založba Univerze na Primorskem/University of Primorska Press
P. 113
lysis of health-related workplace absenteeism in Slovenia ohranjanje in krepitev zdravja | maintaining and promoting health
from 2015 to 2019
Ticijana Prijon, Nina Pirnat, Ivan Eržen
National institute of Public Health, Trubarjeva 2, 1000 Ljubljana, Slovenia
Introduction: Health-related workplace absenteeism, or sick leave, is a tempo-
rary absence from work due to illness, injury or the need to receive treatment
and care, and other medical issues. Sick leave is not solely a matter of an em-
ployee’s state of health, but is also a result of the work-related, social, cultur-
al, economic and other factors to which workers are exposed. In terms of the
health-related, economic, social and other consequences, sick leave represents
a heavy burden for employees, employers, healthcare providers, social insur-
ance providers and the society at large. As sick leave is an important source of
information on health of the working age population, a regular monitoring of
sick leave indicators is a precondition for its management.
Methods: In a retrospective study, we analysed the sick leave trends in Slove-
nia between 2015 and 2019. We defined the percentage and the number of days
lost per employee, the number of cases of sick leave per 100 employees, the av-
erage duration of sick leave and the number of workers on long-term sick leave.
Results: Since 2015 the trend in the percentage of days lost per employee in
Slovenia has been upward, from 3.97 % in 2015 to 4.86 % in 2019. Similarly, the
number of days lost per employee is on the rise, from 14.48 days in 2015 to
17.43 days in 2019, as is the average duration of sick leave, from 13.85 days in
2015 to 15.15 days in 2019. In 2015 the number of cases of sick leave per 100
employees was 104.48. By 2019 this number had risen to 117.06.
In 2019 the total number of workers on long-term sick leave (i.e. longer than
45 days) increased by 45% compared to 2015 (from 19,038 to 27,570), and the
number of those on sick leave of longer than a year increased by as many as 82
% (from 4,589 to 8,368).
Discussion and conclusions: The growing rate of sick leave in Slovenia can be
linked to a variety of factors, in particular to the growing number of employ-
ees, the aging of the workforce, and consequently to an increased morbidi-
ty in the working age population, the phenomenon of presenteeism detected
in the past, more protracted diagnostic and treatment procedures, and to the
changed conditions in the workplace. The systemic regulation of managing sick
leave in and of itself differs from that in other European countries, since Slove-
nia has so far failed to establish appropriate systems and mechanisms to help
workers reintegrate into the workplace after a lenghty period of absence from
work or an effective system of occupational rehabilitation. The growing trend
in sick leave and its negative economic, socio-economic and social consequenc-
es cannot be tackled without any wide-ranging systemic measures involving a
continuous interdepartmental and interdisciplinary cooperation. An effective
management and control of sick leave can only be achieved within a system that
carries out preventive measures to ensure that workers stay healthy, and at the
same time manages psychosocial risks in the workplace.
Key words: health-related workplace absenteeism, indicators, state of health,
working age population
111
from 2015 to 2019
Ticijana Prijon, Nina Pirnat, Ivan Eržen
National institute of Public Health, Trubarjeva 2, 1000 Ljubljana, Slovenia
Introduction: Health-related workplace absenteeism, or sick leave, is a tempo-
rary absence from work due to illness, injury or the need to receive treatment
and care, and other medical issues. Sick leave is not solely a matter of an em-
ployee’s state of health, but is also a result of the work-related, social, cultur-
al, economic and other factors to which workers are exposed. In terms of the
health-related, economic, social and other consequences, sick leave represents
a heavy burden for employees, employers, healthcare providers, social insur-
ance providers and the society at large. As sick leave is an important source of
information on health of the working age population, a regular monitoring of
sick leave indicators is a precondition for its management.
Methods: In a retrospective study, we analysed the sick leave trends in Slove-
nia between 2015 and 2019. We defined the percentage and the number of days
lost per employee, the number of cases of sick leave per 100 employees, the av-
erage duration of sick leave and the number of workers on long-term sick leave.
Results: Since 2015 the trend in the percentage of days lost per employee in
Slovenia has been upward, from 3.97 % in 2015 to 4.86 % in 2019. Similarly, the
number of days lost per employee is on the rise, from 14.48 days in 2015 to
17.43 days in 2019, as is the average duration of sick leave, from 13.85 days in
2015 to 15.15 days in 2019. In 2015 the number of cases of sick leave per 100
employees was 104.48. By 2019 this number had risen to 117.06.
In 2019 the total number of workers on long-term sick leave (i.e. longer than
45 days) increased by 45% compared to 2015 (from 19,038 to 27,570), and the
number of those on sick leave of longer than a year increased by as many as 82
% (from 4,589 to 8,368).
Discussion and conclusions: The growing rate of sick leave in Slovenia can be
linked to a variety of factors, in particular to the growing number of employ-
ees, the aging of the workforce, and consequently to an increased morbidi-
ty in the working age population, the phenomenon of presenteeism detected
in the past, more protracted diagnostic and treatment procedures, and to the
changed conditions in the workplace. The systemic regulation of managing sick
leave in and of itself differs from that in other European countries, since Slove-
nia has so far failed to establish appropriate systems and mechanisms to help
workers reintegrate into the workplace after a lenghty period of absence from
work or an effective system of occupational rehabilitation. The growing trend
in sick leave and its negative economic, socio-economic and social consequenc-
es cannot be tackled without any wide-ranging systemic measures involving a
continuous interdepartmental and interdisciplinary cooperation. An effective
management and control of sick leave can only be achieved within a system that
carries out preventive measures to ensure that workers stay healthy, and at the
same time manages psychosocial risks in the workplace.
Key words: health-related workplace absenteeism, indicators, state of health,
working age population
111
