The Ministry of Inclusion, Social Security and Migration will meet next Monday at 12:30 p.m. with social agents to establish the technical table with which the work on reforming temporary disability (IT) will begin, as stated reported the Government this morning. The Minister of Inclusion, Social Security and Migration, Elma Saiz, has put forward the intention to create a new flexible sick leave that allows partial work or voluntary return to the post.
This was stated to the media on Tuesday by the Secretary of State for Social Security and Pensions, Borja Suárez, who stressed that the agreement signed with employers and unions on September 18 provided for the creation of this table regarding temporary incapacity.
Elma Saiz, had already announced that in the coming days a negotiation table with social agents for the reform of temporary incapacity (IT)who wants to make the return to work of people on sick leave more flexible on a voluntary basis and also “with an eye” on disability.
Thus, Suárez stressed that the table that will be established next Monday will be a “strictly technical” table with an analysis perspective “focused on the protection and improvement of workers’ health.”
In this sense, he assured that the Ministry of Social Security was turning to the countries of the European Union to establish the model that they wish to apply and that 13 neighboring countries have “a model” of flexible leavelike the Scandinavian countries or France. “We have to learn, take a little inspiration from all that, we have to listen to the technicians and see what the reality is,” he added. Spanish regulations, on the other hand, provide for abrupt reinstatement and do not currently envisage partial reinstatement.
“No two social security systems are identical and there are no two systems that protect temporary incapacity in the same way, but formulas in which elements are introduced that we have not included in our system, because they exist in almost half of the countries of the European Union”, he concluded.
The government already knows that unions have been skeptical of the proposal’s first approach, although employers would welcome the move. “We must focus on the origin of the victims with the aim of preventing much more and better than what is currently done. Then we must focus on their diagnosis, treatment and recovery so that people receive all the attention they need – including the situation of temporary incapacity which is necessary – and fully recover their health”, they told the UGT after learning of the minister’s progress.
The Secretary of Social Protection and Public Policies of the CCOO, Carlos Bravo, told Europa Press that “no uncertainty should be transmitted” about their situation to people who find themselves in a situation of temporary incapacity. “Talking about volunteering in these situations raises many doubts. If there is a computer situation and the doctor leading the recovery process considers that it should be maintained, a proposal like that is shocking,” Bravo said.
A long-standing problem
Temporary sick leave becomes particularly important if we consider the expenses that Social Security is facing since the pandemic or the problem of absenteeism detected by companies. This impact, as well as the waiting lists which overwhelm public health, have led mutual partners to play a more important role in the management of this type of work stoppage in cases of trauma and to try to limit expenses .
Expenditure on temporary incapacity benefits (IT) increased by 17.6% over the first eight months of 2024, to 10,422 million euros. The bill for temporary sick leave already represents 86% of the forecast budget for the entire year in eight months. However, this expenditure forecast was exceeded and Sick leave forced Social Security to revise the budget for this item upwards by 3.2 billion.
