Record number of sick leave, increase in absenteeism by 76 percent

The Barmer health insurance company recorded a record number of sick days among its insured for the year 2022. This is shown by a current analysis by Barmer, which is exclusively available to WELT.

According to this, the health insurance company recorded 76 percent more lost work by its insured employees for the full year 2022 compared to 2021. According to Barmer, the number of lost work days due to corona diseases increased significantly in the previous year compared to 2021.

A total of 14 percent of all cases of incapacity to work among the insured employees of Barmer in 2022 as a whole are due to corona diseases. In 2021, this figure was three percent.

The most striking increase in the number of corona sick leave was in July of the previous year. "While in July 2021 only 0.9 percent of all sick leave was related to Corona, the proportion in July 2022 was 20.2 percent and thus more than 22 times higher," says the evaluation.

Barmer recorded the most significant increase in lost work in the previous year for the month of December. For December 2022, Barmer recorded 231 sick leave per 1000 of its insured persons with a claim to sick pay. This corresponds to more than a doubling of sick leave compared to the same month in 2021.

The Techniker Krankenkasse (TK) already determined a record number of sick leave in 2022 when presenting the sick leave figures of its insured at the end of January. For example, employees insured with TK had an average of 19 days of absence last year.

For comparison: In 2021 the corresponding value was 14.53 days absent. The previous high from 2018 with 15.5 days of absence was also significantly exceeded by the sick days of 2022.

According to TK, respiratory diseases such as colds, flu and bronchitis are responsible for the exceptionally strong increase in sick leave. "Even before Corona, there were regular strong flu outbreaks in winter and spring. But we've never had such an exceptionally high level of sick leave," explained Jens Baas, CEO of TK, at the presentation of the figures.

According to TK figures, the average absence due to colds in 2022 was 5.75 days of absence per employed person. In 2021 it was only 1.83.

The analysis by Barmer also shows significant regional differences in sick leave in 2022. This becomes clear when comparing the federal states of Bavaria and Saxony-Anhalt for December 2022: During December of last year in Saxony-Anhalt there were 268 sick leaves per 1000 insured persons employed Barmer were available, there were only 202 sick notes in Bavaria.

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