During periods of economic recovery, employee absenteeism increases significantly, resulting in considerable expenses for companies
It is widely known that we are entering a change in the economic cycle in which an evolution of the labor market is evident, a fact that implies that workers cease to have a certain fear of losing their jobs as there is more demand for employment and, consequently, the commission of labor violations becomes more common.
In the face of such breaches of employment obligations by workers, companies have the power to exercise disciplinary authority to eradicate certain employee behaviors that cause them harm or that, on the other hand, they do not want to set a precedent for the rest of the staff.
As we've mentioned, it's current news that absenteeism is skyrocketing again, and unjustified absences are becoming more frequent. Given this situation, as we've discussed, companies can exercise their disciplinary powers, which is especially important to avoid setting a precedent within the company and thus prevent new employees from joining the ranks of the absentee. To this end, depending on the number of days of unjustified absence, the company has the authority to apply a disciplinary sanction, usually a suspension without pay, after first giving the employee the opportunity to justify their absence.
Possible measures to be taken in response to temporary disability leave
Medical leave certificates issued by medical professionals are considered a type of absenteeism that, even if justified, represents a significant cost to companies.
One control measure is that the Mutual Insurance Company collaborating with the Social Security system periodically carries out medical examinations of workers on sick leave in order to monitor and verify the recovery from the pathologies suffered by the workers, and from the medical examinations it carries out, the Mutual Insurance Company may make a "discharge proposal", first to the medical inspection of the public health system and, if the response of this does not occur or does not coincide with the discharge proposal, to the medical inspection of the INSS.
Another option to consider is the termination of the employment contract for objective reasons provided for in article 52.d) of the Workers' Statute provided that the worker makes absences from work, even if justified but intermittent, that reach twenty percent of the working days in two consecutive months, provided that another requirement is met, which is that the total absences in the previous twelve months reach five percent of the working days, or twenty-five percent in four non-consecutive months within a period of twelve months.
However, it should be noted that absences due to a legal strike for the duration of the strike, the exercise of legal representation activities of the workers, work accident, maternity, risk during pregnancy and breastfeeding, illnesses caused by pregnancy, childbirth or breastfeeding, paternity, licenses and holidays, non-work-related illness or accident when the leave has been agreed by the official health services and lasts for more than twenty consecutive days, or those motivated by the physical or psychological situation derived from gender violence, accredited by the social services or health services, will not be counted as absences.
The purpose of this type of contract termination is a corrective measure available to companies in cases where their employees are intermittently absent from work, even though such absences are justified by a medical doctor, although it should be noted that such a desire to terminate the employment relationship on the part of the employer has a cost for him consisting of compensation of 20 days per year of service to the employee.
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A graduate in Law from the University of Barcelona, she also completed a Master's degree specializing in Labor Law and Social Security at the Barcelona Bar Association. She began her professional career as an intern while studying and later joined the Navarro Law Firm as an employment lawyer, advising companies nationwide on labor law matters and representing them before the Labor Courts, the Labor Inspectorate, in conciliation proceedings, etc. In February 2017, she joined Àmbit Jurídic i Econòmic as a professional partner after extensive experience as an employment lawyer.
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