tinyurl.com/6q965 -> www.forbes.com/business/healthcare/feeds/ap/2004/09/17/ap1549174.html
The survey, presented Friday by the National Social Insurance Board, showed that Swedes manifestly take advantage of the country's liberal sick leave system, officials said. Sixty-five percent of the 1,002 persons interviewed also said that a stressful work situation is also a valid reason for calling in sick. The survey shows "a deep lack of knowledge about what the health insurance is meant to cover," board director Anna Hedborg said of Sweden's 9 million residents. Alf Eckerhall, a social insurance expert with the Confederation of Swedish Enterprise, went a step further: many Swedes are deliberately abusing the system. "The insurance laws clearly state that inability to work because of illness" is the only valid reason to stay home, Eckerhall said. Sweden's extensive cradle-to-grave welfare system includes generous social insurance programs covering sick leave, parental leave and unemployment benefits. But paying for workers on long-term sick leave and disability has become one of the government's biggest expenditures. Sick leave compensation tripled from 15 billion kronor (euro16 billion, US$2 billion) in 1997 to 45 billion kronor (euro49 billion, US$6 billion) in 2002. In Sweden, the employer pays for the first three weeks' sick leave and workers can call in sick for seven days before needing a doctor's certificate or medical proof. People who call in sick do not receive any compensation for the first day they are absent. But Eckerhall said many are abusing the current system by leaving work and calling in sick shortly before their work day is over. That then counts as one sick day, which lets them start receiving sick pay the next day. "That means your day without compensation was 15 minutes long," Eckerhall said. In Friday's edition of the Dagens Nyheter newspaper, Hedborg said it was possible the NSIB, "in some misguided good will, has not been clear enough in stating what the limits are" for calling in sick. The board will launch a massive nationwide campaign to inform people that only illness is a valid reason to stay home from work, she said. "To many, this message may seem hard and even insensitive," she wrote. "The truth is that if we don't defend our common insurance today, we won't be able to afford keeping it."
Ford Raises Q3, Full-Year Outlook Associated Press - 9/17/04 7:50:08 AM ET Announcement came as it cut about 1,150 job cuts in England as part of effort to streamline Jaguar unit.
Mitsubishi Tokyo Injects Cash Into UFJ Associated Press - 9/17/04 4:30:13 AM ET It is expected to open a new market for Mexican produce and prompt Japanese factories to move to Mexico.
EU Wants US Aid To Boeing Clarified Associated Press - 9/16/04 11:53:07 PM ET The EU warned it would counter any US challenge targeting EU rival Airbus before the WTO.
Alcatel Buys Two US Firms Associated Press - 9/17/04 4:08:08 AM ET The French telecommunications equipment maker also is selling its electrical power system businesses.
Mexico, Japan Sign Free Trade Agreement Associated Press - 9/17/04 12:04:10 AM ET It is expected to open a new market for Mexican produce and prompt Japanese factories to move to Mexico.
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