NL employers see highest absenteeism in 17 years

In the first three quarters of 2020, absenteeism due to illness at Dutch companies and governments was an average of 4.7 percent. That means for every 1 thousand working days, 47 were missed due to illness - the highest since 2003, Statistics Netherlands reported on Monday.

The stats office did not look into the reasons behind the high absenteeism, but the coronavirus pandemic is almost certainly involved. The catering industry saw the biggest increase in absenteeism, increasing from 2.6 percent in the first three quarters of 2019 to 3.5 percent in the same period this year.

In each of the first three quarters of 2020, absenteeism was higher than in the same quarter last year. Usually absenteeism is highest in the first and fourth quarter, the winter and autumn quarters. In the first quarter of 2020, absenteeism was at 5.2 percent, compared to 4.7 percent last year. In the second quarter it was 4.5 percent, compared to 4.3 percent, and in the third 4.4 percent compared to 4.0 percent in 2019.