There are cases of Covid-19, bereavement to digest, burn-outs, delays in cancer diagnosis … Since the health crisis, sick leaves, especially long-term, have exploded in France.
A study by Gras Savoye Willis Towers Watson, published last week, reveals that the absenteeism of French employees increased by 20% in 2020.
“Absenteeism in a company generates direct and indirect costs, such as salary maintenance and the financing of a provident plan, the recruitment of a replacement but also the drop in productivity and disorganization recalls Noémie Marciano, technical director. at the house of Gras Savoye, In a press release. And it is very likely that absenteeism will increase further in the years to come. “
While it is difficult to have precise figures for 2021, the first indicators show that absenteeism remains a concern this year. While many employees will return to their offices, should companies fear a return to all dangers? Four subjects risk shaking HR …
The compulsory health pass: a marginal impact
Since Monday, all employees in contact with the public in restaurants, cinemas, museums and mainline trains must present a health pass to work. How many of the 1.8 million of these workers will not accept this obligation? “This only concerns certain sectors, and we have seen that people have brought themselves into compliance, reassures Audrey Richard, president of the
National Association of Human Resources Directors (ANDRH) and HR Director of the Up group. We are close to 50 million French vaccinated! Maybe there will be a few sick leaves, but it won’t be the majority. “
Return to the office: fear of contamination
But the big question mark concerns the Delta variant.
If the contaminations have experienced a slight decrease in the last two weeks, we turn around 20,000 infections diagnosed on average per day. With an increased return to face-to-face companies, will the incidence of Covid-19 return to new heights? It would again be an avalanche of employees arrested overnight.
“For the recovery, we had anticipated before the summer a return to normal conditions in the offices,” explains Audrey Richard. But many HRD have decided to delay a few weeks. “Clearly, a majority of companies belonging to the association will keep the pace of two days of teleworking per week. A much more cautious position than that of Elisabeth Borne, who announced on Monday that there would be no minimum days of teleworking as of Tuesday.
“Obviously, sick leaves have an impact on the organization, because the workload is passed on to colleagues, on fixed-term contracts,” continues Audrey Richard. It is a concern. But absenteeism seems to be decreasing [depuis le début de l’année]. According to health insurance data, daily allowance payments decreased by 13.5% between January and June 2021 compared to 2020. “
Psychological disorders that increase
In 2020, according to a study by Malakoff Humanis, the number of employees arrested for psychological disorders rose from 9% at the start of 2020 to 14% during confinement, then to 18% during deconfinement. A bygone era, if Audrey Richard is to be believed, since many employees have found their way back to work for many months. “We had feedback over this period of 2020 from employees who had apprehensions related to returning to the company. The fears concerned the application of the measures, the change in the pace of work, the resumption of public transport. That’s no longer news. Collectively, we found an adaptation to protect health. “
However, sick leaves for psychological reasons are still important in 2021. “In 2019, around 15% of the stops were linked to psychological reasons, underlines Anne-Sophie Godon, of Malakoff Humanis. Between January and April 2021, we would reach 20%. However, sick leave for psychological reasons is twice as long as for musculoskeletal disorders. And the return to employment of these employees is often more complicated. “
With a never-ending pandemic, depressions and other long-term psychological problems are on the rise. Many doctors alert young and old alike who need psychosocial support. “Our 2020 survey showed that 10% of employees were considering taking sick leave, even alert Anne-Sophie Godon. And we find the same data in 2021. “
Child custody arrest: disorganization announced?
Finally, another unknown could modify the equation. According to the study by Gras Savoye, what has boosted absenteeism in recent months is primarily the sick leave for childcare or fragile person, between March and May 2020. However, since early 2021 , the system has evolved: some parents * may request a partial activity rather than a sick leave to keep their offspring when the class is closed.
But Bruno Le Maire announced it: “Whatever the cost, it’s over. Does this mean that the partial unemployment scheme for childcare will stop? Contacted, the Ministry of Labor ensures that, “for the moment, there is no change”.
Whether it is a sick leave, sick child days or partial unemployment, disorganization threatens in companies in this re-entry. Indeed, in National Education, the protocol still provides for the closure of a class from the first case of Covid-19 in kindergarten and primary. Knowing that these children will be tested more (Jean-Michel Blanquer is indeed aiming for 600,000 saliva tests each week), that they are not vaccinated and not very autonomous, the managers have not finished juggling the schedules …
* Parents of kindergarten and primary children whose class closes, whether or not they can telework, can request a partial activity. And only those who cannot telecommute when their children are in college.