Government workers get sick more than private employees. However, sick leave for public employees lasts less than for those who work in the private sector. The national ‘ranking’ includes very different regional situations: in some areas of the country, workers get sick more, in others they seem to enjoy decidedly better health.
The data
In 2024, the incidence of sick leave in the public sector was much higher than in the private sector. A historical trend that is further confirmed by reading the statistics relating to sick leave over the last 7 years.
This is what the Cgia research office reports in an analysis of INPS data. The figures show how, in the first two quarters of 2024, the difference between the two sectors was very significant. If between January and March of this year 33% of public employees stayed home at least one day due to illness, among private employees the figure was 22%; in the 2nd quarter, however, for the former the threshold of absences dropped to 26% and for the latter to 18%. Generally speaking, it can be said, with good approximation, that public sector workers get sick more than private sector workers; but the average days of absence for the former are slightly lower than the latter.
A record-breaking region
In Calabria in 2023 the average sick days were double compared to Veneto and Emilia Romagna. From the analysis of the Cgia research office, it emerges that the number of sick days recorded in 2023 in Italy, the average figure, was equal to 8.5; if in the public sector it stood at 8.3, in the private sector it was slightly higher and equal to 8.6. In all cases, however, compared to 2017, the situation is significantly improved: the national average figure, for example, has dropped by 16%. The differences at regional level are however very marked.
The region where workers have fallen ill the most is Calabria; those who fell ill stayed home for an average of 15.3 days (9.6 days for public employees and 18.8 for those employed in the private sector). Practically double the amount recorded in Emilia Romagna and Veneto, which, instead, both accumulated an average of 7.8 days of illness.
After Calabria, the most “sickly” workers in Italy are those from Basilicata with 10.2 average days of absence. They are followed by those in Valle d’Aosta with 9.7, those in Sardinia with 9.6 and those in Molise with 9.4. Compared to 2017, in all regions the number of average days of absence due to illness is decreasing, with peaks of -20% in the South (even -23 percent in Calabria).
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