According to a study conducted by the Research Institute of the Finnish Economy (Etla), short sick leaves cause significant expenses for municipal employers.
Absences lasting up to 10 days account for over half of the total annual sick leave costs. In 2021, municipal employers incurred 135 million euros due to these short-term absences.
According to Etla researchers, short absences appear not only as an economic burden but also as a potential warning sign of workload and management challenges.
The study found that short sick absences are especially common at the beginning of the week, but large differences in the frequency of sick leaves were observed between municipalities and organisations.
Published on Monday, the study draws on data from 215,000 employees collected by the state pension agency Keva between 2019 and 2021.
The report also revealed that total sick leave costs increased by 17 percent over the three-year review period.
