Influence of the sickness benefit reform on sickness absence

Aaviksoo, Evelyn; Kiivet, Raul‐Allan

doi:10.1016/j.healthpol.2016.07.014

Cited by 5 publications

(10 citation statements)

References 31 publications

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“…The simplest strategy for addressing unmeasured differences between countries that might affect whether or not a country adopts a particular policy, as well as the outcome of interest, is to compare outcomes before and after the implementation of a policy within a treated country. This before‐and‐after or pre‐post design was commonly used to evaluate leave policies . The validity of the pre‐post comparison depends on the assumption that pre‐reform outcome trends are a valid substitute for trends in the post‐policy period had the policy not been implemented.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…As shown in Online Appendix Table 2, most studies evaluated the immediate impact of sick leave and medical leave policies on policy uptake and personal absences from work. This research generally showed that personal sick leave was responsive to changes in policy, with laws that restricted eligibility or benefits typically associated with reductions in mostly short-term leave-taking behavior, 22,[25][26][27][107][108][109][110][111] and vice versa. 28,31,112 Just as generous parental leave policies might have the perverse effects of discouraging labor force attachment and reducing earnings, 69 from the policymakers' perspective, medical leave policies should be optimally designed to achieve the right balance between work absence and presence.…”

Section: Impacts Of Longer-term Sick and Medical Leave Policies For P...mentioning

confidence: 97%

“…25 Similarly, in 2009 Estonia cut sickness benefits by reducing compensation levels from 80% to 70% and having payments start on the fourth day instead of the second. 26,27 Italy also reduced the wage replacement rate for sick leave compensation in the public sector. 28 Not all reforms were intended to limit medical leave benefits.…”

Section: Policy Characteristicsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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The Impact of Parental and Medical Leave Policies on Socioeconomic and Health Outcomes in OECD Countries: A Systematic Review of the Empirical Literature

et al. 2018

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Historically, reforms that have increased the duration of job‐protected paid parental leave have improved women's economic outcomes. By targeting the period around childbirth, access to paid parental leave also appears to reduce rates of infant mortality, with breastfeeding representing one potential mechanism. The provision of more generous paid leave entitlements in countries that offer unpaid or short durations of paid leave could help families strike a balance between the competing demands of earning income and attending to personal and family well‐being. Context Policies legislating paid leave from work for new parents, and to attend to individual and family illness, are common across Organisation for Economic Co‐operation and Development (OECD) countries. However, there exists no comprehensive review of their potential impacts on economic, social, and health outcomes. Methods We conducted a systematic review of the peer‐reviewed literature on paid leave and socioeconomic and health outcomes. We reviewed 5,538 abstracts and selected 85 published papers on the impact of parental leave policies, 22 papers on the impact of medical leave policies, and 2 papers that evaluated both types of policies. We synthesized the main findings through a narrative description; a meta‐analysis was precluded by heterogeneity in policy attributes, policy changes, outcomes, and study designs. Findings We were able to draw several conclusions about the impact of parental leave policies. First, extensions in the duration of paid parental leave to between 6 and 12 months were accompanied by attendant increases in leave‐taking and longer durations of leave. Second, there was little evidence that extending the duration of paid leave had negative employment or economic consequences. Third, unpaid leave does not appear to confer the same benefits as paid leave. Fourth, from a population health perspective, increases in paid parental leave were consistently associated with better infant and child health, particularly in terms of lower mortality rates. Fifth, paid paternal leave policies of adequate length and generosity have induced fathers to take additional time off from work following the birth of a child. How medical leave policies for personal or family illness influence health has not been widely studied. Conclusions There is substantial quasi‐experimental evidence to support expansions in the duration of job‐protected paid parental leave as an instrument for supporting women's labor force participation, safeguarding women's incomes and earnings, and improving child survival. This has implications, in particular, for countries that offer shorter durations of job‐protected paid leave or lack a national paid leave entitlement altogether.

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Impacts Of Longer-term Sick and Medical Leave Policies For P...mentioning

confidence: 97%

Section: Policy Characteristicsmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

The Impact of Parental and Medical Leave Policies on Socioeconomic and Health Outcomes in OECD Countries: A Systematic Review of the Empirical Literature

et al. 2018

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“…Then, the implementation of a policy to cut sick pay in Estonia in 2009 reduced the wage replacement rate from 80% to 70% and delayed payment until the 9 th day of sick leave, instated of the 2 nd day before reform. The reform resulted in a reduction in the total number of sick-leave episodes and persons listed as sick decreased by one third (Aaviksoo and Kiivet, 2016). Swedish study found a significant impact from a change in the level of sick leave compensation on sick leave behaviour.…”

Section: Determinants Of Sickness Absencementioning

confidence: 93%

The effects of expanding the generosity of statutory sick leave insurance: The case of a French reform

Halima¹,

Koubi²

2022

Health Policy

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This study evaluates the impact of the French reform of 11 January 2008 in the private sector, which modified the share of sick leave paid by the employer in addition to the social security benefit. The reform is comprised of two parts: the waiting period until complementary payment is made by the employer, reduced from ten to seven days; and the minimum required tenure to be eligible, reduced from three years to one year. In this study, we used the administrative panel data (Hygie) from 2006 to 2010 along with a new collective bargaining agreement (CBA) database. The latter was constructed by the authors in order to collect the parameters of complementary benefit for sick leave. We examined separately the effects of the waiting period part and the tenure part of the reform, using a difference-in-differences strategy with matching. When the waiting period is reduced, the number of sick days' increases significantly (+ 0.5 days). When the minimum tenure requirement is reduced, there is more impact on sick leave (+ 0.6 days on the number of sick days and + 0.9 pp on sickness probability). The effects of sick pay reform are different between men and women. The waiting part of the reform significantly increased the annual number of sick leave days and the frequency of sick leave for men, while the Tenure part of the reform has significant impact only for women.

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“…6 As individual, social and economic forces jointly determine absence behaviour, aspects other than work-related stress must be considered, such as attendance motivation, absence culture and sickness benefit reform. [6][7][8] Even so, sick leave can be Strengths and limitations of this study ► Few previous randomised controlled trials have focused on patients' sick leave in a primary healthcare context. ► Using self-reported sick leave data made it possible to include the first 2 weeks of sick leave, which are not included in register data.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Self-reported sick leave following a brief preventive intervention on work-related stress: a randomised controlled trial in primary health care

2021

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ObjectivesTo evaluate the effectiveness of a brief intervention about early identification of work-related stress combined with feedback at consultation with a general practitioner (GP) on the number of self-reported sick leave days.DesignRandomised controlled trial. Prospective analyses of self-reported sick leave data collected between November 2015 and January 2017.SettingSeven primary healthcare centres in western Sweden.ParticipantsThe study included 271 employed, non-sick-listed patients aged 18–64 years seeking care for mental and/or physical health complaints. Of these, 132 patients were allocated to intervention and 139 patients to control.InterventionsThe intervention group received a brief intervention about work-related stress, including training for GPs, screening of patients’ work-related stress, feedback to patients on screening results and discussion of measures at GP consultation. The control group received treatment as usual.Outcome measuresThe number of self-reported gross sick leave days and the number of self-reported net sick leave days, thereby also considering part-time sick leave.ResultsAt 6 months’ follow-up, 220/271 (81%) participants were assessed, while at 12 months’ follow-up, 241/271 (89%) participants were assessed. At 6-month follow-up, 59/105 (56%) in the intervention group and 61/115 (53%) in the control group reported no sick leave. At 12-month follow-up, the corresponding numbers were 61/119 (51%) and 57/122 (47%), respectively. There were no statistically significant differences between the intervention group and the control group in the median number of self-reported gross sick leave days and the median number of self-reported net sick leave days.ConclusionsThe brief intervention showed no effect on the numbers of self-reported sick leave days for patients seeking care at the primary healthcare centres. Other actions and new types of interventions need to be explored to address patients’ perceiving of ill health due to work-related stress.Trial registration numberNCT02480855.

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Influence of the sickness benefit reform on sickness absence

Cited by 5 publications

References 31 publications

The Impact of Parental and Medical Leave Policies on Socioeconomic and Health Outcomes in OECD Countries: A Systematic Review of the Empirical Literature

The Impact of Parental and Medical Leave Policies on Socioeconomic and Health Outcomes in OECD Countries: A Systematic Review of the Empirical Literature

The effects of expanding the generosity of statutory sick leave insurance: The case of a French reform

Self-reported sick leave following a brief preventive intervention on work-related stress: a randomised controlled trial in primary health care

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