Problems with dowel production, train cancellations and postponed operations: the high level of sick leave in the south-west has recently caused difficulties in many places. A first health insurance evaluation shows that it was not just Corona that was to blame.
Stuttgart (dpa/lsw) - According to an evaluation by the health insurance company DAK-Gesundheit, employees in Baden-Württemberg reported sick in the first half of 2022 longer than ever during the corona pandemic. Employees insured there all year round were on average almost seven days off work between January and June, around 1.6 days more than in the same period last year, the health insurance company in Stuttgart said. Corona caused an average of 68 days of absence for 100 insured persons, in the first half of 2021 it was only around 8. Almost every fifth day of absence was due to a respiratory disease, followed by musculoskeletal disorders such as back pain (16 percent) as the second and third most common reasons. and mental illness (14 percent).
In addition to the extent of the corona sick leave, the number of days absent due to coughs and colds has increased enormously, the health insurance company said. While insured persons were absent on average not even half a day in the first half of 2021 for this reason, it was around 1.3 days in the first half of the current year. "Parallel to the gradual easing of the corona restrictions in March 2022, a pronounced cold and flu wave could develop," said Siegfried Euerle, head of the DAK-Gesundheit.
For the analysis, DAK was the first health insurance company in the state to evaluate all sick leave in the first half of 2022 from around 280,000 employees in Baden-Württemberg who were insured with it. For comparison: in 2021, the State Statistical Office in the southwest counted almost 4.8 million employees subject to social security contributions.
However, the development coincides with figures from the AOK, which claims to have around 4.5 million insured persons in the south-west. There, the key figures for days absent from January to the end of May were also significantly higher than in the same period last year - with particularly large increases in February and March. Respiratory diseases also played a major role among those with AOK insurance.
According to the DAK, more than a third of its policyholders were on sick leave at least once by the end of June. Employees in the areas of machine and vehicle technology were absent particularly frequently, with sick leave averaging around 9.5 days per insured person. Employees in professional fields that are suitable for working from home, such as corporate management and organization, rarely reported sick - with just under five days per insured person. The number of days absent in medical health professions has increased in particular - from almost 6 days per employee in the same period last year to an average of around 8.4.
With a view to autumn, politicians are now required to permanently allow sick leave by telephone "in order to reduce the risk of infection in the doctor's office," said Euerle. Due to the continued high number of corona, sick leave for cold symptoms has been possible again by telephone since Thursday. For the time being, however, the rule only applies until the end of November.
