Absence from Work Report 2009 and Absences Due to Accidents in Austria

The absence from work report 2009 provides, like the earlier reports by WIFO, an overview of absences from work due to illness (sick days) in Austria in a standardised format. According to this report the number of sick days increased in 2007 and 2008. In 2008 employees took on average 12.5 days sick days a year. However, this figure varies enormously depending on gender, age and area of work. The focus of the absence from work report 2009 is to investigate the correlation between health and unemployment. On average the unemployed call in sick approximately 20 days more than employed people. This large difference is due to the fact that those groups of people who have major health issues are disproportionately more likely to be unemployed. The unemployed have a high rate of lengthy episodes of illness and spend considerably more time in inpatient care than people in employment. Institutional factors such as changes in pension rights and the more intensive approach to labour market policy have substantially contributed to the rise in the rate of sick days taken by the unemployed over the last few years.