Stopping Sick Days: European companies are wrestling with how to get their
employees to take fewer sick days, according to a recent Mercer Human Resource
Consulting survey.
Twenty-two percent of companies surveyed say they are concerned that
anti-discrimination laws—such as those barring age, sex and disability
discrimination—prevent them from properly addressing absences. Concern was
highest among employers in Eastern Europe, Germany and France.
Twenty-seven percent of employers are offering incentives to encourage staff
to take fewer sick days, the survey says. But many companies expressed concern
about the appropriateness of using vouchers and bonuses to encourage employees
to forgo their sick days, particularly if the employees are actually ill, the
study says.
To help reduce the risk of employees taking sick days, 49 percent of
companies are promoting health initiatives within their organizations. Sixty
percent of these employers offer health screening as part of this effort.
Not surprisingly, more than half of the 380 employers surveyed say they are
concerned that their health care costs will increase as their workforce
ages.
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