Still more sick leaves in France, a structural trend

The costs of sick leave increased by 5.2% in 2017, according to the latest figures from the National Health Insurance Fund (Cnam).

According to Cnam figures relayed by La Dépêche, sick leave costs cost Social Security 10.3 billion euros in 2017, an increase of 5.2% compared to the previous year. A third of French workers thus stopped their professional activity in 2017 for health reasons.

In detail, reimbursements for general practitioner care increased by 3.2% during the first ten months of 2017 and those for specialized care by 3.2%. Health Insurance already noted an increase of + 2% in declarations in 2016.

Ten years of increase

While epidemic outbreaks such as those of gastroenteritis and influenza sometimes lead to a sharp cyclical increase in sick leave costs (+ 8% in January 2018), France has seen a continuous increase in sick leave costs since ten years.

“As with all increases in health spending, there is a legitimate, obvious part which corresponds to a real need for serious pathologies”, analysis in Midi Libre Claude Humbert, director of the Hérault primary fund, before to detail the structural causes of a very complex problem. Increase in the start of the retirement age, general deterioration of working conditions (precariousness, hierarchical conflicts, pressure, increase in travel times), decrease in the number of unemployed, etc.

Low back pain, musculoskeletal disorders and psychosocial disorders

“In recent years, we have observed an increase in pathologies that may have an occupational origin, in particular low back pain, musculoskeletal disorders and psycho-social disorders. There are also significant differences in terms of absenteeism rates between companies belonging to to the same sector of activity “, explains the CNAM in a recent press release, before detailing its desire to engage in dialogue with companies declaring an abnormally high number of sick leaves to encourage them to implement preventive actions and reduce certain work-related risk factors.

The CNAM established in 2016 that 70% of daily allowances were linked to the risk of work accidents, 20% to the risk of commuting accidents and 10% to the risk of occupational diseases.