Salary despite illness: Continued wage payments increased significantly in 2022

A study by the German Economic Institute estimates that German companies have spent an additional double-digit billion amount.

uLast year, companies in Germany spent an additional two-digit billion sum on continued wages for sick employees. This is from a study by Institute of German Economy (IW) from which the “Rheinische Post” quotes. Accordingly, the IW expects continued wage payments of at least 87 billion euros for 2022 – compared to 77 billion euros in the previous year.

“Due to the increased sick leave, a significant increase can be expected for 2022,” says the newspaper in the as yet unpublished study. Accordingly, the cost of continued wage payments last year could even exceed 90 billion euros.

After a significant drop in sick leave in the first two years of the coronavirus due to distance and hygiene rules, sick leave reached a record level in 2022.

According to the study, the main reason for the increased sick leave is significantly more respiratory diseases. With reference to surveys by the umbrella organization of company health insurance companies (BKK), it is said that the sick leave has increased by around 30 percent compared to the previous year. The proportion of respiratory diseases in the total sick leave was 23 percent in 2022, and thus “more than twice as high as in 2021”, quotes the “Rheinische Post”.