It feels like a lot of people are sick again – and apparently the impression is not deceptive. According to an analysis by the health insurance company DAK, sick leave in the first quarter was only slightly below the previous year’s figure.
According to a current survey, sick leave among employees in Germany remains at a high level. In the first quarter of 2024, the number of absences due to illness was 5.8 percent, only slightly below the figure for the same period last year, according to an analysis by the health insurance company DAK-Gesundheit, which is available to the editorial network Germany. According to this, an average of 58 out of 1,000 employees were on sick leave every day between January and March.
Respiratory diseases a main reason
According to the analysis, the average duration of a sick leave fell slightly from 9.6 to 9.3 days, but at the same time the total number of cases increased slightly. Accordingly, 38 percent of all employees were absent from work on sick leave at least once between January and March. Among those under 20, the figure was as high as 59 percent.
According to DAK Gesundheit, the reason for most of the failures was respiratory diseases, mental illnesses and complaints such as back pain. The sick notes of 2.2 million insured people were examined for the data. “There is no all-clear in sight when it comes to sick leave in Germany,” said the health insurance company boss, Andreas Storm, to the RND. After the record values in 2022 and 2023, the high absenteeism rates among employees also solidified in the first quarter of 2024.