Two years ago, the town hall of Saint-Loubès, near Bordeaux, introduced a bonus to combat repeated or prolonged absences from work. To receive the maximum bonus of 750 euros, the agent must have been absent less than 6 days in the year.
Between 7 and 10 days of absence, he receives 70% of the amount. With a drop in the absenteeism rate of 11% between 2022 and 2023, and in the number of workplace accidents by 17%, the efforts are starting to pay off. But the cost of replacing agents – 362,000 euros in 2023 – has almost been halved in two years. The bonus cost 70,000 euro in 2021, 82,000 Euro in 2022. It must be said that replacing agents had a certain cost for this municipality of 10,000 inhabitants: 615,000euros in 2019, 590,000Euros in 2020. “A cost faced by many municipalities due to the aging of our agents,” underlines Murielle Fabre, the general secretary of the Association of Mayors of France.