Absenteeism of secondary education teachers fell sharply while working online
Teachers in secondary education were less ill last year during the period that they had to teach online - from March 2020 - until the summer holidays. Absenteeism in this period was well below the level of 2018 and 2019. Over the entire year, absenteeism due to illness fell among this group of employees. Absenteeism actually increased among their colleagues in support.
Picture: Type tank
leave that new figures of Duo in a report by the labor market platform Voion. This platform contains the unions - including the AOb- and the employers' umbrella organization VO-raad. There is, however, a warning in the report that a comparison with other years is more difficult because of corona.
Remarkable
In 2020 less working time was 'lost' to illness than a year earlier. The percentage among teachers decreased from 5,6 in 2019 to 5,4 in 2020. 'Remarkable', the report says. There were many changes in the work, for example, teachers had to quickly set up new teaching methods, deal with all kinds of new ICT programs and social contacts with colleagues and students fell away. These are major changes that can lead to more work pressure and pose a risk of absenteeism due to illness. However, that did not happen during that period. Only after the summer holidays in 2020, when schools reopened with the distance rule, did absenteeism rise above the level of the two previous years.
The aim to keep in touch with the students was a major motivation
According to Voion, it shows that teachers felt less need to call in sick while working from home. With complaints with which they would call in sick during physical classes, they could now teach online. 'The pursuit of keeping in touch with the students was a major motivation', writes Voion. 42 percent of employees did not call in sick in 2020, which is more than in 2019 when it was 36 percent. Those who did call in sick in 2020 were sick on average for 17 days, which is 3 days longer than in 2019.
Oop'ers
Absenteeism due to illness increased among educational support staff (oop). In 2020 this was a percentage of 6,2. A year earlier it was 5,9 percent. According to Voion, this is mainly because the number of days of illness has increased. From 18 days in 2019 to 24 days in 2020. As with the teachers, a larger proportion of the oops did not call in sick once. This increased from 46 percent to 53 percent in 2020.
Among 65-year-old OOPs, it is striking that they were ill for much longer in 2020: on average 16 days longer than in 2019. It is a guess as to the exact cause, but the labor market platform mentions corona as a possible factor that - due to age - caused this that there were complications.
