[Excerpt] The economic costs of working while sick go far beyond increased health care costs due to treating a significantly higher number of people showing more severe signs of ill health. They also involve costs due to lower productivity and subsequent impacts on economic growth and development, in addition to collective costs of growing health and social inequalities.
However, many aspects of social health protection including the role, patterns and costs of paid sick leave are misunderstood or underappreciated especially during times of economic crisis and recession. It is often said that paid sick leave schemes are open to abuse, especially if the benefit levels appear generous. This is undoubtedly a danger, and points to the need for strong administration. However, it is all too easy to overstate the case. ILO analyses of stimulus packages and policies addressing the crises reveal that cuts of social and health budgets are among the first national responses to recover the costs of bailing out those that have contributed to the crisis. Concerned are social health protection measures that provide access to health services and financial protection in case of sickness, such as paid sick leave.
Limited evidence is available for governments, employers and workers’ unions on the consequences of gaps in providing for paid sick leave and costs of failing to address the needs of the vulnerable. Developing reliable internationally comparable data is constrained by the complex interplay of health and socio-economic conditions including regulations, labour market structure and vulnerability when taking up paid sick leave. Against this background, this paper seeks to focus on the existing national and international evidence and provides some insights into the concepts, patterns and affordability of paid sick leave in countries throughout the world. Further, it is argued that providing for sick leave and related income replacement is a key component of decent work and should be considered within national social protection floors
