Dubbed “Blue Monday” for obscure commercial reasons, the 21st of January has not seen more people off the job as a result of illness than normal. February-March is usually the time of the year worst affected by short-term absences from work as a result of seasonal illnesses, while Monday is the “least favoured day” for such absences, according to a study on sick leave by the Attentia human resources company. The study was conducted among 110,000 employees of Belgian businesses.
“We’ve observed, on the other hand, that during the winter months, staff have fewer hours of daylight because days are shorter, so they risk being affected by seasonal affective disorder, a more severe form of winter depression that requires treatment,” said Attentia Director-General Fiorella Bursco. "From that point of view, we should speak rather of “Blue Months” and not “Blue Monday”.”
According to the study, the “preferred” working day for a short-term sick leave last year was Thursday.
The Brussels Times
