French workers are taking more sick leave than ever before, but the government can’t afford to foot the bill

Les Echos reports that in the first six months of 2024, the cost of French workers taking sick leave increased by 8.5% compared to 2023.

France’s national health insurance, the Caisse nationale d’assurance-maladie (CNAM), predicted a spending plan of 17 billion euros in 2024, but this figure has almost been spent. Stoppages of more than three months increased by 9.5%, and medical leaves due to work accidents increased by 11.3%. Shorter periods of sick leave are not as high, but still account for almost half of the total – is France fast becoming the sick man of Europe?

Interestingly, inflation and demographics don’t fully explain the story. France has an aging workforce that is growing every day, but between 2019 and 2023, it accounted for just 19% of daily sick leave figures. It costs to keep people out of work, so inflation also has a big impact, accounting for about 39% of the cost increase in 2019.

So we can also factor in inflation, and demographics can’t explain the remaining 42% of costs. People are going on sick leave and more are staying on sick leave for longer. said Thomas Fatôme Les Echosgeneral director of CNAM, that more people may have chronic diseases or that people may take advantage of the system.

Since the pandemic, it is also true that mental health problems have increased alarmingly, especially among the 18-24 age group, where Le Monde reports that one in five young French people has a depressive disorder.

In France, when someone is on sick leave, national health insurance kicks in on the fourth day and pays 50% of their salary, assuming their salary is no more than 1.8 times the minimum wage.

The French government is heavily in the red. Le Monde reports that the country’s debt has reached a record 3.228 billion euros, 112% of GDP when the EU sets a maximum of 60%. Among its European counterparts, only Greece and Italy have a higher debt-to-GDP ratio.

When Barnier presents his draft budget this week, he must find a way to save €40 billion. It is said to be planning to reduce this cap from 1.8 to 1.4 times the minimum wage, a plan that could save the government up to 600 million euros.

What would happen, however, is that employers would be forced to make up the shortfall currently covered by social security or insurance companies. Ultimately, this could lead to employers campaigning for a complete overhaul of the system in a bid to tackle growing problems of absenteeism.

Employers might argue that it’s fairer for payments to come in later, so workers would be less likely to decide to take days off. Some would like to push the system further and make Social Security benefits kick in on the seventh day instead of the third; this would save up to 950 million euros. None of these strategies, however, would pass easily through the courts without a fight from employees and unions nationwide.

Meanwhile, the government is likely to crack down on people who have been off work for more than 18 months (about 30-40,000 people) and investigate the 7,000 doctors who prescribe this type of long-term sick leave.