Gesundheit!
The average number of days employees were sick went up in Germany last year from 15.4 (2006) to 16.3 (2007).
That’s a lot of sick days and I am happy to say that my company in Munich is significantly under this level.
The news item prompted me to look for a comparison table of average sick days in Europe and the US. This is what I came up with:
- Sweden 26
- Norway 21
- Finnland 15
- Belgium 16
- France 16
- Germany 16
- Netherlands 14
- UK 13
- Denmark 10
- Austria 10
- USA 9
- Switzerland 7
- Italy 7
- Ireland 6
The main story here: average sick leave in Europe is a lot higher than in the US. Most countries guarantee a very high amount of paid sick leave, unlike the US which does not guarantee workers anything - neither paid vacation nor paid sick leave.
How much paid sick leave do you receive? Do you think it is enough or would more days be justified? When employers offer high levels of paid sick leave, how can they stop abuse?
References:
Automobil-Produktion April 2008
Uwe Becker, “The Scandinavian Model”, published in IPG 4/2007. (Latest data from 2005)
Image from nmcp.mar.med.navy.mil
Tags: average sick leave, europe, paid sick leaveRelated Stories
POSTED IN: Customs and Culture, News
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