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The number of sick leaves has been on the rise for 10 years. Following this observation, the services of the Ministry of Finance want to reduce these figures and estimate to be able to recover 10 billion euros in this way. The opinion of Dr Fabien Quedeville, general practitioner.
The figures for sick leave are on the rise: from 6.4 million in 2012, they rose to 8.8 million in 2022. An increase that challenges the services of Bercy.
The Ministry of Finance wants to hunt down abusive sick leave
For the Minister of Economy and Finance, Bruno Lemaire, this increase has no reason to exist. “Does anything justify that sick leaves have increased by 30% in recent years? This represents a total expenditure of 16 billion euros per year“.
An intolerable increase for the government, which is looking for ways to save money. This could be an additional waiting day or an unpaid sick day. Pending the decisions taken by the executive, controls are intensifying to track down possible fraud. “There are sick leaves that are justified: that’s normal, they must be compensated. Then there are abuses. And abuses, they must be controlled, and they must be punished“adds Bruno Lemaire.
More sick leave near weekends, according to the president of Medef
For his part, the president of Medef Geoffroy Roux de Bézieux attacked the “convenience work stoppages” on the set of BFMTV. Geoffroy Roux de Bézieux thus denounced a “explosion of short-term work stoppages, especially on Fridays and Mondays”. Indeed, if we compare the years 2022 to 2019, the number of work stoppages compensated by the members of the CTIP (Technical Center for Provident Institutions) has increased by 30% (but there is no data to know whether the Mondays and Fridays are more affected).
But what the president of Medef does not say is that the pandemic has been there and that 2019 is the last year before the appearance of Covid-19. A period when sick leave was distributed more than normal, in order to isolate people who were possibly contaminated.
Towards a control of prescribing doctors?
Among the other levers of action envisaged by the government, there are prescribing physicians. “OThere is a real campaign of intimidation so that we no longer arrest people who need to be arrested. It’s absolutely outrageous“explains this Monday, June 19 at the microphone of our colleagues from Franceinfo Agnès Giannotti, president of the union of doctors MG France, the first union among general practitioners.
The point of view of Fabien Quedeville, general practitioner in Chilly-Mazarin, in Essonne
“The government is asking itself the question of abusive sick leaves but forgetting the billions poured out for nothing during the Covid-19 crisis. Health crisis during which it was possible to self-declare illness and benefit from fifteen days off for a simple nasopharyngitis. I therefore do not understand why this is no longer possible today, employees should be given the possibility of declaring their stoppages, as is the case elsewhere in Europe. Obviously, it is necessary to control abusive sick leave, but it should also be remembered that the vast majority is justified in view of the difficult working conditions for certain trades. For example, I meet many employees suffering from musculoskeletal disorders or burnout. And teleconsultation is not the solution, you have to examine your patient. On the other hand, occupational physicians should be able to prescribe work stoppages, in my opinion, something that is not done today“.