Here’s some news on sick leave in Italy: There’s a lot of it, especially on Monday.
Today is Monday, as it happens, which is why I bring this up.
A recent statistical analysis reveals that more than 30 percent of workers in the public sector have availed themselves of a doctor who will certify that they aren’t able to come to work that day, the day being Monday, as I mentioned, or what they might prefer to call Sunday 2.0.
In Calabria, the numbers collected for 2012 showed an average number of 34.6 sick days; “average,” of course, means that some people took even more. This number doesn’t specifically say that that month was made up exclusively of Mondays, but we can suppose that at least ten of them were.
Whether this indicates that the environment at the toe of the Italian “boot” is extremely unhealthy, or that there are so many wonderful things to do there that a mere weekend isn’t enough to enjoy even a few of them, I am not qualified to say.
I do have some theories, but will leave you to your own conjectures.
3 Comments
Hmmmm…no wonder the economy is sagging.
Great lead in to your story….I wonder how Teddy is doing?
Well, Belgium is supposed to be the most Italian country outside if Italy, and doctors have huge signs in their waiting rooms saying, “It is absolutely prohibited to ask a doctor to write a note saying you are ill if you are not. Please do not ask for one.”
Guess they have made all those signs for some reason?
Has anyone done a similar study about strikes? They always seem to happen on Fridays. All the better if the following Monday is a holiday.