Sick leave is decreasing

Compared to the first quarter of 2007, the number of sick days per employee decreased by 0.07 days per employee, to 1.43 days for the corresponding quarter of 2008. The decrease for the private sector was by 0.06 to 1.23 days in 2008 and for the public sector by 0.08 to 1.83 days in 2008. During the first quarter, total sick pay was given for an average of 1.13 days per employee.

Sick days per employee by sector and sex

Sector	Sex	2008	2007
Private	Women	1.37	1.42
	Men	1.15	1.21
Municipality	Women	2.10	2.24
	Men	1.54	1.76
County council	Women	1.99	1.87
	Men	1.29	1.20
Central government	Women	1.62	1.64
	Men	0.87	0.91
Total	Women Men	1.69 1.17	1.76 1.24

The number of sick periods is unchanged
Compared to the first quarter of 2007, the number of sick days per employee in the first quarter of 2008 remained unchanged and amounted to 0.35 periods. Likewise, periods for the private sector amounted to 0.30 periods and the public sector to 0.43.

Definitions and explanations

Sick pay period The period when an employee is absent from work due to sickness and is eligible
for sick pay.

Sick days All calendar days in the sick period, regardless of whether the employee is
reimbursed for all days with sick pay or not.

Sick period         Each time an employee begins a sick period a new period is generated,
                         regardless of how many sick days the period consists of. The survey presents
                         periods that were completed during the quarter.

The survey is published quarterly. The surveys for 2002-2005 have been published on the website of the Swedish Social Insurance Agency.