A recent study by Mensura reveals that nearly four in ten Belgian workers do not take a single sick day throughout the year.
Older employees are less likely to report illness than their younger counterparts, the research also found.
According to De Tijd, 40.8% of individuals over 45 do not take any sick leave, compared to only 33.5% of those under 45.
Absence expert Bart Teuwen from Mensura suggests younger workers report sick more frequently but for shorter durations, which may be due to their life stage involving young children and sports activities.
Employees with flexible and autonomous jobs are less likely to report sick. Executives have the highest rate of zero absenteeism at 51.2%, followed by office workers at 37.2%.
Physically demanding jobs pose a higher risk of absence, with only 30.3% of manual labourers reporting zero absenteeism.
The study also highlighted a gender gap: 41.1% of men did not take any sick leave, compared to just 32.1% of women.
Teuwen notes that this is partly due to women-specific health issues and their prevalence in sectors with higher absenteeism rates like healthcare and education.
