Sick leave in Bavaria lower than in the federal government

Sick leave in Bavaria: sick leave for eleven days a year

04/27/2012

The sick leave in Bavaria is on average a little lower than in the rest of Germany. Both the duration of illness and the total number of sick leave among Bavarian workers were below the federal level. However, the nationwide trend towards a significant increase in mental illness is also evident in Bavaria, according to the latest health report from the DAK.

In the health report, the DAK has broken down the data of its insured persons by federal state and determined the respective sick leave as well as the average absence and the causes of the sick leave. In Bavaria, the incapacity certificates of almost 350,000 Bavarian insured persons from the year 2011 were evaluated. The result: the sick leave in Bavaria is at 3.1 percent and on average the Bavarian workers were not able to work eleven days a year.

Sick leave in Bavaria well below the national average
Overall, the sick leave rate in Bavaria was 3.1 percent, slightly lower than the national average, according to which 3.6 percent of employees a day in Germany were unable to work due to illness. The increase in the number of sick leave in Bavaria was much more moderate at 0.1 percentage points compared to the previous year than the nationwide trend with an increase in sick leave of 0.5 percentage points (from 3.1 in 2010 to 3.6 percent in 2011) ). Especially compared to the federal states with very high sick leave, such as Mecklenburg-Vorpommern (4.7 percent), Brandenburg (4.6 percent), Thuringia (4.5 percent) or Saxony-Anhalt (4.5 percent), Bavaria is relatively well Only in Baden-Wuerttemberg was the sick leave at exactly 3 percent still slightly lower than in Bavaria.

Rises in mental illness
Also in relation to the average duration of illness, the situation in Bavaria looks relatively good nationwide. Bayern were unable to work for 11.1 days per year, with the national average of 11.5 days. In Bavaria as well as in the rest of Germany, the three most common causes of illness are diseases of the musculoskeletal system, such as back pain, which accounted for 21.5 percent of absenteeism among Bavarian workers, acute injuries and poisoning (16 percent of absenteeism) and illnesses of the respiratory system (15 percent of absenteeism). Overall, these three diseases are responsible for more than half of absenteeism in Bavaria. The most dramatic increase in absenteeism was recorded by the DAK Health Report for Bavaria for mental illnesses. Accordingly, absenteeism due to appropriate diagnoses has increased by 14 percent, whereby the relatively long average disease duration of 31 days also plays a significant role here. Overall, absenteeism due to mental illness has risen by 42 percent since 2002, reports the DAK.

Highest sick leave in health care
The DAK health report also breaks down the sick leave according to various economic groups or sectors in order to provide insight into the occupational disease risk. Unlike the national average, the public administration in Bavaria is not the sector with the highest sickness, but the health service. At 3.7 percent, the sick leave rate in the Bavarian health service (4.1 percent in Germany), 3.5 percent of the sick leave in public administration (4.2 percent across Germany). The lowest sickness rate was recorded by the DAK in Bavaria among employees in the field of education, culture and media with only 2.2 percent. This sector also has a nationwide average of 2.7 percent of the lowest sick leave.

Men less ill than women
With regard to the gender-specific sick leave, the DAK found that men in almost all age groups are less likely to be sick than women. Only at the age of 15 to 24 years is the sick leave in the female sex slightly lower than in the men. In the opinion of DAK experts, women tend to be more frequently ill than men because on the one hand they work more often in occupations with an increased risk of illness and on the other hand pregnancy complications increase the sickness rate among women. However, a general statement on health can not be derived from this. (Fp)

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Absenteeism: Increase in mental illness

Matthias Preisinger