CCOO Baleares: "Employers are using absenteeism as an excuse to cut rights."

PalmThis Wednesday, the CCOO (Working Workers' Commissions) launched a campaign in the Balearic Islands against "the inappropriate use" of the term "absenteeism" by employers, who—according to the union—use it "deliberately" with the aim of "demonizing rights" such as sick leave, reduced hours for childcare, strike hours, and vacation time. According to the union, these cases "are not unjustified absences—or absenteeism—but rather rights protected by the system."

In this regard, they have detailed that, of the 5.5% that employers count as absenteeism in the first quarter of 2025, only 4.4% corresponds to temporary disability (TD). The remainder, 1.2%, are labor rights such as vacation time.

According to Enrique Norberto Spera, head of Occupational Health at CCOO Baleares, in a press conference, "it is inappropriate to use the term absenteeism with the connotations that the employers' association wants to give it." He also stated that "they want to instill the idea that acquired rights, which allow workers to lead a healthy social life, are excessive and should be reduced." For this reason, the union has launched this campaign against what they consider "the fallacy of so-called absenteeism."

For his part, the general secretary of CCOO in the Balearic Islands, José Luis García, has proposed the creation of an observatory to analyze the factors that motivate sick leave, with the aim of "focusing on people and their recovery, and not on the hours not worked." "We will not accept that all hours not worked be considered absenteeism; we cannot accept the generalization of anecdotal information," he said. "Now, we want to participate in the debate about why temporary disabilities are increasing," he added. In this regard, he noted that sick leave (TD) cases have increased by four-tenths of a percent compared to the first quarter of last year.

García believes that using the concept of absenteeism in a "generalized and abstract" way is "a semantic trap" to "question workers' rights." He said the increase in sick leave is "multifactorial" and questions such as: "Is there a direct relationship between the increase in sick leave and working conditions? Is there a lack of digital disconnection? How does the increase in the retirement age influence this?" "What cannot be tolerated," he emphasized, "is that the number of absenteeism in the workplace is inflated and indiscriminately criminalized, and that the solution is to cut rights."