Natalia Fdez.
The conference “Absenteeism, impacts, challenges and solutions”, held on Thursday, March 26 at the Madrid Regional Institute of Safety and Health at Work (IRSST) brought together experts from various fields to analyze this phenomenon that continues to grow and represents a significant challenge.
María del Carmen Tejeda, Deputy Minister of Economy and Employment of the Community of Madrid, opened the day giving a clear context to it, to give way to the dialogue tables, the focus of the day.
At the mutual table,Natalia Fdez. Laviada, Deputy General Director of Prevention, Quality and Communication of Fraternidad-Muprespa, shared a dialogue with Antonio Cirujano, Technical Director of the Prevention Area of FREMAP, and Jose Antonio Grande, director of the Madrid&Castilla-León Zone of Umivale ACTIVA; being a moderator Antonio Vega, Safety, Health and Wellbeing Manager at ALSEA.
In his participation, he unraveled what is really behind work absences and recalled that absenteeism is not just missing work or a succession of figures, but a clear sign that something is not working in the mechanism that unites workers, companies and the public health system.
The directive stated that spending on temporary disability due to common contingencies has increased by 99% in the last six years.
There are problems, as he explained, of saturation of the health system, for example in primary care, which translate into delays in medical tests, surgical interventions and rehabilitation and which delay decision-making, "which unnecessarily prolongs temporary disability processes and generates a domino effect that impacts the worker's health and their organization.”.
Added to these structural factors is the aging of the working population, the increasingly visible mental health problems, which require new management and support tools, along with an excessively guaranteeing protective shield that deserves a reforming look from a legal system that does not accompany the labor market or social reality.
Comprehensive view based on prevention and co-responsibility
He also analyzed the cultural and social changes in the relationship with work, which have made prevalent messages that idealize life without work obligations and the so-called “silent ambition”, a trend that prioritizes personal life over promotions, status or salary.
He also insisted that organizations must guarantee the existence of work environments that protect physical and mental health and allow a real balance between professional and personal life, “because only in this way can a sustainable model be built over time”.
Finally, he called for addressing absenteeism from a comprehensive perspective that combines prevention, well-being, co-responsibility and a more agile and coherent management of temporary disability, highlighting that only a joint approach and certain important regulatory reforms will make it possible to stop a phenomenon that already has a major economic, social and organizational impact in Spain.
