Why some countries are declaring war on absenteeism due to illness

Wednesday, Mar 12, 2025

Der Standard

Countries debate paid sick leave, with Germany and Spain facing issues due to high absenteeism.

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[This is an automatically generated summary, for reference only]

Many countries are addressing issues with sick leave, as seen in ongoing discussions in Germany and warnings from Spanish politics, while Austria plans stricter controls. Companies are noticing the impact of flu season, and Allianz insurance CEO Oliver Bäte publicly criticized Germany for having “world-class” paid sick leave, suggesting a policy change to eliminate pay on the first day of absence to save 40 billion euros.

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PULSE is an initiative coordinated by OBCT that has been promoting intensive journalistic cross-border collaborations in Europe since 2024. Its main aim is to help strengthen the European public sphere by reporting on and telling stories from new and diverse perspectives.

At the heart of PULSE are 10 leading national news outlets (Delfi – Lithuania, Deník Referendum – Czechia, Der Standard – Austria, EfSyn – Greece, El Confidencial – Spain, Gazeta Wyborcza – Poland, HotNews – Romania, HVG – Hungary, Il Sole 24 Ore – Italy, Mediapool – Bulgaria) and three transnational organisations, including OBCT , n-ost and Voxeurop .

Additional outlets and journalists are involved as associate partners, including EUobserver , Føljeton (Denmark), H-Alter (Croatia), Levila (Estonia), Rubryka (Ukraine), and The Journal Investigates (Ireland).

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