Approximately 1.6 million workers miss work every single day. This means that around 7% of Spain’s employed population is absent from their jobs daily. The majority of these absences are justified, according to data provided by the employers’ association CEOE: 1.4 million of them are accompanied by a temporary disability leave (IT, by its Spanish acronym)—what we commonly call medical leave. According to the association, the expenditure on benefits and additional social security contributions for these leaves amounts to €33 billion. Of this total, 17 billion are paid for by businesses. The problem is that absenteeism has tripled compared to 10 years ago.
Compared to 2019, before the pandemic, public spending on temporary disability benefits has increased by 79%. It now constitutes the main expenditure for the Social Security system, behind only pensions. According to data from the Valencian Institute of Economic Research (IVIE), Spain is the European leader in workplace absenteeism due to temporary disability.
Consequently, yesterday the employers’ association requested that the Social Security system take over all contributions and benefits received by a worker while on temporary disability leave. They also requested the reinstatement of the ability to dismiss employees for this reason, a measure that was abolished in 2020.
According to the president of the National Construction Confederation, it is necessary to analyze “the patterns of short-term leaves, particularly why they are so common on Mondays and Fridays.” He also called for measures to strengthen the monitoring and follow-up of temporary disability processes.
