They are undoubtedly not all lazy or in poor health, but they are perhaps shrewd: Belgian workers apparently know how to take advantage of all the advantages granted to them by law. Their bosses are a little less satisfied; This is what a study by Securex, a company specializing in human resources, has just revealed.
The major survey, carried out among around 24,000 employers and 198,000 workers, confirms a surge in absenteeism in 2023, following a reform adopted the previous year. It provided for an exemption from a medical certificate for a first day of absence. Result: a spectacular increase (+ 44.2%) in these one-day defections. And also a significant increase (+ 16%) in the number of those who declared themselves ill for one day three times during the year, in accordance with the new provisions.
“Some seem to view all this as a new form of leave”deplores Voka, the main Flemish employers’ organization. “Companies tell us that employees believe they are entitled to these work stoppages and plan them, sometimes weeks in advance. That was the risk. Today it is demonstrated »explains Matthieu Dewèvre, advisor to the Union of Middle Classes.
Reorganization of tasks
The unions, on the other hand, refuse to mention any abuse. “One day of absence is a wake-up call. [Le patron] who invests in their staff and ensures a good balance between work and private life will be rewarded”affirms, in the daily De MorgenRaf De Weerdt, general secretary of the socialist union ABVV.
On the Securex side, we prefer to talk about ” proactivity “ and prevention. Detecting discomfort at work, fatigue or possible errors made by an employee often makes it possible to avoid absences, comments the company. Which also underlines that involving the colleagues of an absentee in the search for solutions is a preferred approach.
Specialists also observe that one-day absences, even repeated and forcing a reorganization of tasks, are, ultimately, less penalizing for companies than those, often longer, prescribed by a medical certificate.
It should be noted that, in companies of less than 50 people, for which the law does not apply, therefore where workers must justify any absence, one-day defections have increased three times less quickly (+ 15% ). And the percentage of employees reporting sick three times a year or more fell by 3.9%.