Heidelberger pressure
Companies are giving away premiums among workers without sick days
Recently, the discussion about sick leave in German companies has flared up again. The Mechanical engineer Heidelberger Druck relies on financial incentives.
The Mechanical engineer Heidelberger Druck wants to reduce sick leave in the company with financial incentives. CEO Jürgen Otto announced that around 1,100 employees without sick days at the Wiesloch-Walldorf location were raffled three times net. There are a total of around 4,000 employees at the location. The “Rhein-Neckar-Zeitung” had previously reported.
Idea Service Otto said: “We did not want to follow and punish, but we really wanted to express appreciation to those who really did their job without a single shortage last year.” You don’t have to drag yourself sick to work. “But we have working hours and also lush vacation entitlements, where you can compensate for that if necessary.”
CEO speaks of massive cost pressure
The idea arose because Germany records an above -average number of sick days, said Otto. The DAK health recently spoke according to its own insured data of an average of 19.7 shortage last year. “We are a little better than the cut,” said Otto. “Of course, we are in the competition comparison, of course under massive pressure anyway.” It referred to countries with significantly lower sick leave, such as Switzerland and Denmark.
The works council clearly criticizes the offer. “For all colleagues who are or were affected by a serious illness, this is a slap in the face,” said Ralph Arns, chairman of the employee representative, the “Rhein-Neckar-Zeitung”. If the rewards that are now promised should be motivating, “then this is antiquated and the wrong way”.
The debate about the sick days recently only flared up again
At the beginning of the year, the debate about absenteeism in the job was newly flamed. The head of the insurance group Allianz, Oliver Bäte, had proposed to reintroduce a “maternity leave” – so that employees should not receive any continued payment for the first day of the disease. Criticism had also become loud of the possibility of sick leave for easier complaints by phone without an extra practical visit.
dpa
Source: Stern
