Absenteeism reaches turning point after increasing for months

The number of sick reports decreased by almost half in April

After increasing for months, the average absenteeism rate in the Netherlands reached a turning point in April 2022. In addition to the decrease in the number of sick reports due to Covid-19, the flu is also on its way down. Consequently, last month, the number of sick reports decreased by almost half. Thanks to this strong decrease, the absenteeism rate was 4.8% compared to 5.6% in March 2022, according to our figures. Now that Covid-19 and the influenza are disappearing, employers are starting to focus on improving the employability of employees in this tight labour market.

Number of sick reports decreased by almost half

In March 2022, the Netherlands was still experiencing a record number of sick reports: 11 out 100 employed persons reported sick. In April, this number decreased by almost half to 6 out of 100 employees that reported sick, which is mostly due to the decrease in the number of Covid-19 and influenza sick reports. The downward trend is noticeable in all sectors, from the corporate market to the SMEs. This is the first decrease of the average absenteeism rate this year and it has been a significant one. Nevertheless, the 4.8% absenteeism rate remains higher than the rate of this period during the pandemic (2019: 4.3%). “This is partly due to the influenza wave that we experienced in the beginning of April,” says Jurriaan Penders, director of medical affairs at HumanCapitalCare.

Remaining impact of Long COVID

“There is also a small group of employees who are absent for a longer period due to Long Covid,” says Penders. “Almost 95% of the employees return to work within 12 weeks after contracting Covid-19. This is not the case for a small group of employees with Long Covid. We estimate that this group is responsible for approximately 4% of the total number of sick leave days. A quarter of them have not returned to work even after a year.”

Take care of your employees, especially in this tight labour market

“Concerns about absenteeism due to Covid-19 and influenza are decreasing. However, the absenteeism rate remains high in an increasingly tight labour market. This creates additional concerns among employers about the increasing workload and the employability of employees,” says Penders. Earlier this year, the central bureau of statistics, Statistics Netherlands (CBS), reported that the Dutch labour market has a record number of vacancies, most of them in commerce, business services and the healthcare sector. “We are calling on employers to continue paying attention to their employees. Continue to stimulate working from home, when possible, so that employees do not have to travel much and can have control over their hours. Carefully examine which work really needs to be done now and postpone whatever you can in order to prevent unnecessary emotional and physical overload.”