End of compensation for short sick leave, 7-day waiting period… the shocking proposals from the Court of Auditors for Social Security

La Cour des comptes propose toute une série de réformes. MAXPPP – Richard Villalon

In a report made public this Wednesday, May 29, 2024, the high court suggests "modifying the parameters" the care of people who take time off work for health reasons.

The Court of Auditors is proposing a series of reforms to deal with the slippage in the Social Security accounts, whose deficit will widen to more than 17 billion euros by 2027, reports Le Figaro.

Among the measures proposed in a report published this Wednesday, May 29, 2024, one would consist of profoundly modifying compensation for sick leave to better distribute the financial burden between Social Security , businesses and policyholders."It is imperative to find ways to better regulate spending in this area of ​​sick leave", insists Pierre Moscovici, First President of the Court of Auditors.

Multiple factors

This rise in the cost of sick leave can be explained by multiple factors: effects of Covid, increase in the minimum wage and wages, increase in the working population, extension of the general regime to the self-employed and liberal professions, ;etc. The bill for Social Security increased by 4.3 billion euros between 2017 and 2022, or 56%, indicates our colleagues.

The Court of Auditors is therefore considering several possible measures:

A stop to compensation for work stoppages of less than eight days (470 million savings per year expected); An increase in the waiting period from three to seven days (950 million in savings); One day of public order deficiency which cannot be covered by the employer, compensated by a reduction in the rate of coverage by Health Insurance (600 million ;rsquo;savings) ; A reduction in the maximum duration of compensation from three to two years associated with better management of chronic pathologies (750 million in savings).

"The share covered by social security could be reduced compared to that supported by businesses, which is already equivalent to that of social security& quot;, indicates Pierre Moscovici.

Today, the bill for sick leave is shared equally between social security and businesses. Employees "could also be called upon if one or two public order waiting days were created", continues the First President of the Court of Auditors.