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Germans skip sick days in fear for their jobs

DDP/The Local
DDP/The Local - [email protected]
Germans skip sick days in fear for their jobs
Get up and get to work! Photo. DPA

Germans have been taking less time off sick this year, as the financial crisis bites and makes workers fear for their jobs, according to new figures.

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Even a flu epidemic did not keep people away from their workplaces.

The Die Welt newspaper reports on Saturday that government statistics show that employees had on average taken 1.8 days off sick since the start of the year – or 3.26 percent of their working time.

This was five percent less than the same period last year. Ten years ago, the rate was 4.4 percent in the first quarter of the year.

Women took more time off sick than men, the paper reports, with an average of 3.5 percent absenteeism compared to the male rate of 3.06 percent.

Commenting on the numbers, Joachim Möller, director of the Institute for Jobmarket and Professions Research at the federal Jobs Agency, said, “In times of economic crisis, employees have more concerns about losing their jobs. The sickness rates tend to sink in such times.”

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