Canary Islands has the third highest absenteeism rate in the country

The rate of absenteeism has grown almost half a point in Canary Islands in the last year and now stands at 7.3%, a figure only surpassed by the Basque Country, with 7.6%, and La Rioja, with 7.5%, according to the latest quarterly report from Adecco, corresponding to April, May and June.

In Spain, absenteeism was 6.9% in the second quarter, 0.4 points less than in the first, with a decrease of 0.1 points in temporary disability, sick leave, to 5.5%

According to this report, the absenteeism rate falls compared to the previous quarter, but grows compared to the same period of 2023: 0.2 percentage points in the case of the general rate and 0.3 points in the case of temporary disability, the most important within all the causes that the report considers to calculate the percentage of hours missed from work.

"The hours not worked due to absenteeism are equivalent to 1.2 million employees not working during the second quarter," the study adds.

By sectors, industry is the most affected by absenteeism, with a rate of 7.5%, followed by the services sector, with 7%; and construction, with 5.5%.

By activity, the highest absenteeism rate is for maritime transport, with 13.3%; while the lowest is in publishing, with 3.7%, and real estate activities with the same rate.

By region, the Basque Country continues to have the highest absenteeism rate, 7.6%; followed by La Rioja, with 7.5%; and the Canary Islands, with 7.3%.

On the contrary, the lowest absenteeism rates are located in the Balearic Islands with 5.2%, Extremadura with another 5.2% and the most intense inter-quarterly drop, and Andalusia with 5.4%.

Absenteeism, the document recalls, is the set of hours not worked for occasional reasons, which do not include losses due to ERTE (temporary employment regulation file), nor due to vacations and holidays.

The most important reason in quantitative terms that it includes is temporary disability (common illness or non-work-related accident), but it also includes, for example, hours not worked due to maternity and adoption, for paid leave and for labor disputes.

"It is a mistake to equate absenteeism with unjustified absences. Logically, the hours lost for this reason are a part of absenteeism, but they are not the most important portion," the report recalls.