Sick leave in Saarland 2024: positive trends and new challenges

Sick leave in Saarland 2024: positive trends and new challenges

The sick leave of the employed insured persons of the Techniker Krankenkasse (TK) in Saarland fell slightly in 2024. The sick leave was 5.95 percent, compared to 6.05 percent in the previous year. This data was presented in Saarbrücken today, on January 29, 2025, and show that employees were missing around 21.8 days in the workplace in 2024, which represents a slight decline compared to the 22.1 missing days in 2023. The value was only 21.8 days in 2022, which indicates a certain stability. Among other things, the TK attributes the decline in sick leave to an improved corporate culture and health promotion in the companies, which has a positive effect on the well-being of the workforce, reports the Zeitung .

The most common causes of a lack of working days are colds, mental illnesses and muscle skeleton diseases. While the absent days due to colds in 2024 dropped from 5.3 days to 5.0 days, the absent days due to mental illnesses and muscle skeleton diseases remained almost constant, with slight declines to 4.5 days or 3.1 days. Stefan Groh, Head of the Saarland TK Landes Representation, emphasizes the importance of long-term sick leave and recommends that this aspect to illuminate this aspect more in the discussion about sick leave. "Health care and a positive corporate culture are crucial factors," he emphasizes. These data come from the current preliminary information of the TK health report, which were determined from a base of around six million at the TK.

development of sick leave in comparison

The average absenteeism in Saarland are above the national average, which was only 19.1 days in 2024. The comparison of the absent days in recent years shows that in 2023 it was 22.1 days and in 2022 also 21.8 days. This underlines a positive tendency, even if the numbers are still above the overall German cut. The collected sick leave is part of a more comprehensive discussion about the causes and prevention of incapacity to work, such as the Techniker Krankenkasse

In addition, it should be mentioned that an alarm rose of the AU days due to mental illnesses has been observed in recent years. The average of these absent days now amounts to 28.1 days. The connection between illness -related absences and the general working environment is underpinned by numerous studies that show that a good corporate culture increases the satisfaction of employees and thus also lowers sick leave. Also AOK refers to the significant effects that a healthy working environment has on the absenteeism.

Overall, sick leave in Saarland seems to improve slowly but steadily, which is supported by preventive measures and increased awareness of health issues. The task for the coming years will be to consolidate these positive trends and at the same time combat the causes of long -term failures more effectively.