The Círculo de Empresarios calls for a nationwide settlement to cease absenteeism | Economy | EUROtoday

The Círculo de Empresarios has warned this Wednesday of “a sharp increase in absenteeism from work in Spain after the pandemic”, which is basically defined, in keeping with this enterprise group, by the rise in absences attributable to sickness, accident or short-term incapacity (sick out of labor). In an announcement they’ve denounced that this example “already has worrying economic, social and ethical dimensions”, which is why they demand “a national agreement that involves public administrations, companies and social agents to stop this phenomenon.”

For the Circle, sick go away is behind many of the improve in absenteeism in recent times. And an “unsustainable” state of affairs has been reached, through which 1.2 million staff are absent from their jobs each day, this group denounces. According to the National Institute of Statistics (INE), within the third quarter of 2025, 4.9% of employed folks didn’t work within the reference week (excluding holidays and permits), nearly two factors greater than earlier than the pandemic.

For this motive, they’ve determined to demand this “National Agreement against Absenteeism”, through which, in keeping with their proposal, the State, enterprise organizations, unions and all of the brokers concerned would take part. Its goal can be to “correct dysfunctions, strengthen the health and administrative management of temporary disabilities, review existing incentives and improve control and reincorporation processes.”

This enterprise group ensures that the rise in absenteeism “does not respond solely to a deterioration in the health of workers.” Their evaluation signifies that, though sure pathologies have elevated after the pandemic, the primary explanatory issue for the rise in sick go away “is caused by diseases that are difficult to diagnose, repetition of episodes of temporary disability and their long duration.”

In truth, they level out that absenteeism related to “repeaters” is the elemental issue that explains virtually the whole improve within the fee of absence attributable to short-term incapacity skilled between 2018 and 2023. In truth, in Spain the typical period of sick go away exceeds 38 days, in comparison with 25-30 days in nations corresponding to Germany or the Netherlands, and greater than 16% of the processes final greater than a yr.

The drawback, they add from this suppose tank“it is aggravated by the saturation of primary care, the lack of administrative control and coordination, the loss of acting capacity of mutual societies and a regulatory and judicial framework that has drastically reduced the incentives and tools to combat the abuse of these practices.”