Why Asturians miss work more often: rights to work-life balance, mental health, delays in the Health System…

The cups

This week, the XIII Adecco Report on Absenteeism was published, prepared by the research centre of this multinational human resources company. In the absence of official statistics, this type of work, which uses data from the National Institute of Statistics (INE) as a basis, is a reference for measuring the magnitude of the problem. It includes data from the first quarter of this year. It highlights that the absenteeism rate is at its highest in Spain, reaching 7.3%. If we look at the autonomous communities, we can see that the most affected are the Basque Country, with an absenteeism rate of 8.4%, and Asturias and the Canary Islands, with rates of 8.2% each. These levels had never been reached before, nor had absenteeism been identified as a serious competitiveness problem in the Principality.

The Association of Economists of Asturias, with the support of professors from the University of Oviedo, periodically prepares the Económetro, a socioeconomic confidence indicator in which more than 300 economists from the region participate and whose objective is short-term analysis. Among the recurring issues, the factors that influence the competitiveness of the Asturian economy are analyzed, but absenteeism has never been included. “We began to prepare the Econometer in 2019 and at that time there was no concern about absenteeism,” says Santiago Álvarez, professor of Applied Economics at the University of Oviedo, to highlight that the problem, although identified, was never among the problems until now. main.

The concepts

The Royal Academy of the Spanish Language defines absenteeism as the deliberate failure to go to the place where an obligation is fulfilled or as the habitual abandonment of the performance of functions and duties of a position. However, the concept of absenteeism used by the Adecco study and other similar ones such as those of Randstad (which place the absenteeism rate in Asturias at the end of 2023 at 7.1%, which meant that nearly 28,000 Asturians did not go to work on time) is broader. For them, absenteeism is not comparable to unjustified absence.

Its rate is calculated from the agreed hours of work (in collective agreements and employment contracts) and to these are added any overtime hours that may have been performed. The hours not worked due to vacations and holidays, and the hours not worked due to ERTE, are subtracted from the result. The figure obtained in that operation gives the effective agreed hours. On the other hand, hours not worked for occasional reasons are calculated. This includes hours lost without justification, but also hours not worked due to maternity, paternity and adoption (rights that have been expanded in recent years with the aim of improving family conciliation and reducing employment discrimination); for paid leave and licenses (which have also increased); due to labor conflict (strikes) and, above all, due to temporary disability (IT), a situation in which workers find themselves temporarily prevented from working due to common or professional illness and accident, whether work-related or not. The division between the total hours not worked for occasional reasons and the effective agreed hours results in the absenteeism rate. Business organizations accept this concept, but not unions. “Justified withdrawals and regulated permits, which are rights, are maliciously inserted,” criticizes José Manuel Zapico, general secretary of CC OO of Asturias.

The common disease

“In 2023 and so far in 2024 there has been a worrying increase in absences, especially those due to common illness,” says lawyer Javier Blasco, director of The Adecco Group Institute. The study prepared by the research centre headed by Blasco estimates absenteeism in Asturias in the first quarter of the year at 8.2%, but absenteeism linked only to temporary disability (IT) is already 6.4%, a rate that is only exceeded by the Basque Country (6.5%) and which is well above the national average of 5.6%.

Sources from the employers’ association FADE highlight that in 2023 it was estimated that “the equivalent of 12,788 workers did not go to work any day of the year due to IT, with an increase of almost 40%” compared to five years ago and “a direct cost for companies and an amount of benefits paid by mutual insurance companies that exceeds 280 million euros”. They add that the rates above 6% that are being reached in 2024 are double those in 2015 and exceed those of the pandemic.

FADE focuses on the duration of the sick leave and points out that Asturias is among the three regions with the longest sick leave, with an average duration of almost two months. “In this environment of long-term sick leave, increasing the number of cases places us in a very weak position,” the employers’ association highlights, adding that “those who have the decision-making capacity over the processes, the regional health systems, “they do not assume the essential costs of prolonging sick leave”, since the costs of days 4 to 15 of sick leave are borne by the companies, which cannot manage disabilities due to common contingencies. “There is a very high impact that seems to concern only the companies and paying entities. In reality there are other great concerns: thousands of workers who would like to be cured and discharged, and who have to endure long waiting periods, for example, to see a specialist, or having a diagnostic test that would be paid for with a tiny part of that waiting time,” FADE points out, pointing directly to waiting lists in public health.

In the case of trauma pathologies, the Association of Work Accident Mutual Insurance Companies (AMAT) – an entity that represents the interests of the 18 mutual insurance companies collaborating with Social Security – indicates with data from 2023 that in the case of workers with sick leave resulting from of common illness or non-work accident, which are treated by the Health Service of the Principality of Asturias (SESPA), it took them 100.24 days on average to recover their health. In contrast, workers treated by mutual insurance companies after their sick leave due to a work accident or occupational disease took an average of 48.52 days to recover. The difference is 51 days.

“Workers on sick leave due to common illnesses or non-work accidents unnecessarily take more than an extra month to recover their health and be able to return to work, with the economic losses that occur for themselves, for companies and for Social Security. “, they point out from AMAT.

FADE is calling for mutual insurance companies to play a greater role in healthcare in order to speed up processes and reduce absenteeism, a possibility that is viewed with reservations by the unions UGT and CC OO of Asturias. “We hope that the aim is not to do business at the expense of workers’ health,” says José Manuel Zapico, general secretary of CC OO, who adds that “these are sick days and in this debate we cannot ignore the fact that work accidents, that poor working conditions increase psychosocial risks and that people work many more hours than usual, even while on sick leave, for fear of losing their jobs.”

Mental health

“The reasons for absenteeism are well known,” says Javier Blasco, director of The Adecco Group Institute, who cites the institutional and regulatory environment (there is, he points out, a correlation between the generosity of sick leave coverage and the number of these), the socioeconomic factors of the employees (including age, as a very important factor, but also sex, marital status, income, sector and type of contract), working conditions and, finally, the size of the company (in Spain, the number of sick leaves is higher the larger the company, while in Germany the opposite occurs, he points out).

However, Blasco points out that “in the last period of time, mental health must be added to the classic factors as a multiplier of absences. 32% of workers in Spain, well above the average of the rest of the countries, say that their mental health has worsened in the last year.” And he adds that “one in four companies say that a quarter of their workers have been affected by psychological disorders such as anxiety, depression or post-traumatic stress in the last year.”

The aging

Asturias is one of the regions with the oldest population and this is also noticeable in companies. However, FADE points out that age is not the cause of the growth in the number of casualties due to common contingencies. They point out that between 2019 and 2022, the latest data available, these losses grew especially in workers between 21 and 40 years old, while they decreased in those over 56 years old.

Size Matters

It is confirmed in Asturias that the larger the company, the greater the incidence of lack of attendance. In Alimerka, the Asturian company with the most workers, absenteeism rates were 11.59% in 2022 (12.37% among women and 8.88% among men) and have increased recently. In the second company with the most staff, ArcelorMittal, absenteeism stood at 11.5% in the first quarter of this year, three points above the regional average.

By sectors

The case of ArcelorMittal and Alimerka, with similar levels, shows that the problem of absenteeism is not exclusive to industry, a sector that has traditionally had higher rates in Asturias. The report by The Adecco Group Institute highlights that in the first quarter of the year, industry and services registered the same rate of absenteeism, 8.2%, while in construction the rate is more moderate, 7%.

It is also independent of the remuneration of workers. In the metal sector in Asturias, absenteeism rates of 10% were recorded at the end of 2023, according to data from the Femetal employer association, which highlights “the good working conditions of metal workers in Asturias, whose salaries grew by 29% in the last ten years and permanent hiring stands at 84%”. An internal Femetal survey revealed that absenteeism is a problem that worries 52% of companies in the sector. “It is not the fault of the workers, we are all exposed to falling ill. What we ask is that the processing of the diagnosis and treatment of diseases be expedited,” said Antonio Fernández-Escandón, president of Femetal, at the last meeting of the organization.

In other sectors they have begun to take economic measures to try to tackle absenteeism. This is the case of the Orovalle mining company, which in its latest collective agreement conditions the collection of the variable bonus on the entire workforce reaching a target of effective working hours. In this gold company, time worked is also gold.