Over the course of the last decade, there has been an average increase of 159% in the number of sick days taken by employees in the Israeli economy, according to a multi-year survey conducted by Oketz Systems.
According to the survey data, the average absence due to illness in 2010 was 1.97 days, while in 2022 - 5.1.
For the purpose of conducting the survey, the company processed data from 8,506 payslips of various workers employed in 256 companies and businesses, which were issued monthly for work in the months of October-January, in the years 2010-2022 (with the exception of 2020, during which many were absent due to the corona closures).
The most significant jump, at a rate of 250%, was recorded among workers in the food industry: from a level of 1.6 days of absence in 2010 to a level of 5.6 days in 2022. Alongside this, the high-tech industry is the industry where the highest number of days of absence was recorded - 6.6 days on average.
Workers in the office, photo: GettyImages
"There are those who will explain that the reason for this lies in the decline in the capacity of the immune system, however, in practice, what led to this are two steps taken by the state in the last decade", believes attorney Shlomo Yaakovovich, an expert in labor law.
"Change in entitlement to payment for absence due to illness: in April 2011, contrary to what was done before, it was determined that for the second and third day of the employee's absence, he will be entitled to 50% of his salary, and starting from the fourth day of his illness, the employee will be entitled to normal salary.
"Second step: change in the way of reporting to the employer about the reason for the absence: at the end of 2015, an amendment to the law came into effect, according to which a doctor who gives a sickness certificate is exempt from diagnosing the disease, and does not have to specify the reason for the sickness certificate."
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