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Illness as a risk: Companies in Diepholz are relying on new incentives!
Diepholz fights against high sickness rates with attendance bonuses. Current figures and opinions on the topic in focus.
Illness as a risk: Companies in Diepholz are relying on new incentives!
In the Diepholz district, companies are fighting against the alarming increase in sickness absence. According to the Techniker Krankenkasse, the average duration of illness for employees in the first nine months of this year is 14.13 days, while the AOK is already reporting a record number of 225 cases of incapacity for work per 100 members for 2024. To counteract this development, many employers are considering attendance bonuses, in which employees are financially rewarded for missing sick leave. This bonus could be up to 500 euros per quarter, which means an increase of up to 2,000 euros annually if employees do not call in sick.
Incentive or misunderstanding?
However, such bonuses could be counterproductive. Experts warn of the risk of employees coming to work sick in order not to lose their bonus. Markus Westermann from Verdi expresses concerns that this practice can lead to employees not recovering sufficiently and infecting others. Nils Wigger, a labor law specialist, also points out that such incentive systems often undermine trust between employer and employee and can have a negative impact on the working atmosphere. The legal basis for attendance bonuses is also not clearly regulated.
Although support offers such as health prices and a good working atmosphere are considered to be much more useful, the question remains as to how companies can best deal with increasing absenteeism. Initiatives such as company integration management and preventative health checks could be more effective in the long term in promoting employee health and reducing absenteeism. The craft sector, which is particularly hard hit by health challenges, is faced with the task of finding innovative and sustainable solutions to overcome the growing problems of absence in everyday work.
The focus is not only on the number of sick days, but also on the satisfaction and commitment of employees. For businesses in the district, the key is finding a balance between incentive and responsibility in order to ensure long-term health and productivity. Strongly analyzing these challenges and finding solutions could be crucial for the future of several companies in the region. Further information can be found in the articles by District newspaper and German craft newspaper.