Sick leave: government's options worry unions and employers

Doctors' unions, employees' unions, and employers' movements have at least one thing in common: they are very reserved—even extremely worried—about the ideas put forward by the executive to contain the surge in expenses related to work stoppages. On July 15, François Bayrou expressed his desire to curb the phenomenon in strong terms. "We must put an end to a downward spiral," the head of government insisted, as he presented his plan to clean up public finances. At this stage, no measures have been decided, since the issue is one of the topics that social actors must address, in the last quarter of 2025, as part of a negotiation on the "modernization" of the labor market and the "quality of work." But several avenues seem to be favored by the current government, the goal being to achieve "at least €1 billion in savings" from 2027.

The problem Mr. Bayrou's team is tackling is not new, but it seems to have worsened. In 2023, Social Security paid just over €10 billion to private sector employees and public sector contract workers to compensate for lost pay during sick leave. The bill rises to €17 billion if we take into account sums allocated for maternity (or adoption) leave, workplace accidents, and occupational illnesses. These amounts have been increasing more rapidly in recent years: +6.3% per year on average between 2019 and 2023, compared to +2.9% during the period 2010-2019.

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