Cleaning companies, hospitals and residential care centers in particular are experiencing major staff shortages. — © Shutterstock
173 companies have been fined because too many employees are sick. This has generated 1.38 million euros for the federal government, according to figures that PVDA MP Mario Van Hees requested from Minister of Social Affairs Frank Vandenbroucke (Vooruit).
Source: BELGA
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Cleaning companies, hospitals and residential care centers in particular are experiencing major staff shortages, writes The last news Friday.
Belgium has half a million long-term sick people. According to the Planning Bureau’s predictions, that group will grow to 600,000 people by 2035. To stop this evolution, Minister of Social Affairs Frank Vandenbrouke (Vooruit) launched a plan in 2022 to guide long-term sick people to the workplace more quickly, he outlines. The last news. He also focused on companies with many long-term sick people: in his opinion, there is something wrong with the corporate culture there. That is why the National Social Security Office (NSSO) checked whether the long-term staff absence at one employer is higher than at other companies in the same sector and the general average.
Indeed, the number of long-term sick people at 173 companies increased dramatically last year. They therefore received a fine in the mail, worth 1.38 million euros, money that entirely goes to funds to work on prevention. Another 290 employers received a warning.
