Editorial: La Vanguardia

• Absenteeism from work due to illness or injury in Spain has increased by 60% from 2017 to 2024, reaching 8.6 million episodes.
• The average duration of sick leaves has also increased by 14.8%, from 40 days in 2017 to 45.9 days in 2024.
• Spain's labor absenteeism rate of 7% is higher than in other countries such as France, Germany, Italy, and the Netherlands.
• There's a need to analyze the causes, including increased detection of mental and musculoskeletal health pathologies and suspicion of fraud.
• The Independent Authority for Fiscal Responsibility (Airef) attributes the increase in sick leaves to poor management of temporary incapacity.
• Airef proposes improvements in the information system, collaborations with primary care physicians, and reviews of waiting lists, among others.
• The CEOE proposes to eliminate salary bonuses during sick leave and streamline Social Security procedures.

Conclusion: There's an urgency to adopt effective and realistic measures so that medical leaves do not continue to have a severe financial and health impact on Spain.

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