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REMUNERATION OF CIVIL SERVANTS ON SICK LEAVE

Communication to the National Assembly’s Committee on Finance,

the General Economy and Budget Oversight

Abstract

Sick leave for public servants

1

, sometimes considered equivalent to absenteeism whereas in reality it

is only a sub-set

2

of this category (around half of teacher absences, for example), has a significant

impact on the operation, efficiency, costs and image of the civil service sector. For several years, sick

leave has been on an uptrend which has affected all three segments of the civil service sector, both in

terms of the number of days and duration, albeit to varying degrees, similar to what is seen in the

private sector as well.

Sick leave due to short-term illness can significantly disrupt the daily operations of public services,

sometimes significantly altering the quality of service provided to users. As a result, users often tend

to develop an excessively negative opinion of the overall quality of public services, and the

administration could more effectively address the impacts of medium- and long-term sick leave by

relying on replacements or temporary reorganisations. Work leave also raises major questions in terms

of risk prevention and professional disconnection.

The public authorities are addressing these issues, the scope of which extends beyond administrative

management: they also raise questions about the conditions in which public decision-makers and staff

managers exercise their duties, as well as more decisive questions related to the health and well-being

of public servants, whose population is ageing. Consequently, labour negotiations are under way to

develop an occupational health plan for the civil service sector. Similarly, a framework agreement was

signed on 3 June with a view to expanding the supplementary social protection of public servants.

Furthermore, in response to the COVID-19 health crisis, the public authorities adopted exceptional

measures for the management of public servants, starting with the use of an unprecedented special

absence authorisation aimed at protecting vulnerable public servants, and also drew conclusions from

the impacts of certain lockdown measures. These measures created cases of work leave aimed at

protecting health and well-being, without being classified as sick leave in the strictest sense of the

term

.

1

Public servants

1

: civil servants and employees under permanent or fixed-term contracts.

2

In addition to absences for health reasons, absenteeism at work includes absences resulting from maternity

leave, exercising union rights, labour-related conflicts, exercising training rights, exceptional absences or

absences for any other reason

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In this fast-

changing environment, the Chairman of the National Assembly’s Committee on Finance,

the General Economy and Budget Oversight requested, in a letter dated 23 June 2020, a “report on th

e

remuneration of public

servants on sick leave”, pursuant to Article 58(2) of the

by-law relating to

Finance Acts.



The Court issued four major findings: the uptrend in sick leave among public servants in the last several

years, the wide diversity of rules governing coverage of sick leave, the relative disorganisation in the

follow-up of sick leave across all three segments of the civil service sector, and the proactive response

by public-sector employers to the effects of the health crisis.

First finding: sick leave on the rise

Sick leave has been climbing significantly and steadily: in the civil service sector as a whole, the number

of sick leave days rose 21%, i.e. from an average of 10 days per person in 2014 to 12 days in 2019, for

a total of around 11.9 million additional days of leave. This increase is particularly prevalent in the

regional civil service) and hospital civil service segments, where absentee rates were already highest.

While the rate of absenteeism due to illness (as

measured by the percentage of employees absent at

least one day during the week for health reasons) is slightly less than one point higher in the civil service

sector as opposed to the private sector, it is 0.8 point lower in the State civil service segment

and 2.3

points higher in the regional civil service segment.

This situation can be attributed equally to different sociological factors in each of the three civil service

segments (age pyramid and occupational categories, percentage of women holding civil service jobs,

types of jobs exercised) and to highly diverse factors such as the percentage of employment under

fixed-term contracts, the size of the entity and sick leave compensation schemes. Significant variations

can also be attributed to quality of management and job satisfaction at each entity.

Despite improvements in recent years, data collection on absences from work for health reasons

among civil servants is not sufficiently harmonised and centralised. With the social databases of the

various administrations currently being overhauled, the Court recommends taking this opportunity to

define harmonised metrics for all three civil service segments and setting up more effective tools to

measure absences for health reasons among civil servants.

The Court measured the total number of unworked days due to illness based on two sources. Based

on French national institute for statistical and economic studies

“Employment” survey, total sick leave

is equivalent to a full year of work performed by 252,000 full-time equivalent (FTEs) and to gross

remuneration with social security charges of around €11.9bn. Based on social audits, unworked days

are equivalent to a full year of work performed by 241,000 FTEs and to gross remuneration with social

security charges o

f around €11.1bn.

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In addition to the valuation of unworked days due to sick leave, the Court attempted to measure the

budget expenditure for replacements of absent employees. However, since the reasons for

replacements and overtime were not accurately and uniformly provided by all administrations, this

expenditure could not be calculated. Piecemeal data do exist: for example, for the Ministry of National

Education, the replacement budget for staff on sick leave, which only applies to elementary school and

to absences of more than 15 days in secondary school, is around €2bn, out of a total staff expenditure

of €68bn.

Second finding: multiple remuneration rules, reflecting a wide variety of situations

The remuneration of public servants varies depending on whether they are civil servants or employed

under permanent or fixed-term contracts. It also varies greatly depending on the composition of pay,

as broken down into index-based and compensatory portions, and on the choices made by employers

regarding the compensatory portion of pay.

The compensation scheme for civils servants is entirely covered by public sector employers. For

ordinary sick leave, the compensation scheme is founded on the continued application of index-based

pay (with a one-day waiting period) then, after 90 days over a rolling 12-month period, on half index-

based pay. Although in the State civil service segment, the continued application of lump-sum bonuses

complies with the rules governing the fixed portion of index-based pay, a different system is applied

in the regional civil service segment, according to the decisions of each local authority, and in the

hospital civil service segment, according to the decisions of each healthcare institution. Bonuses paid

for services performed outside normal work cycles, particularly for overtime, do not cover periods of

sick leave, as opposed to the general compensation scheme. For long-term sick leave, if index-based

pay is applied for a longer period, the compensatory pay scheme is suspended as from Day 1.

Accordingly, depending on pay structure, replacement rates during sick leave periods vary quite

significantly.

For employees under permanent or fixed-term contracts, the rules of the general scheme apply, i.e.

payment of a daily social security allowance

and application of a three-day waiting period. The

duration and amount of compensation depends on the length of the contract with the employer. Like

civil servants,

employees under contract working for more than three years receive their usual level

of compensation via supplements paid by their employers. By taking out an insurance policy

(predominantly on an individual basis) that covers the loss of pay during periods of sick leave with a

civil service mutual insurance company, public servants can supplement the compensation paid by

their employers and the general compensation scheme, but that depends on the choices and personal

financial situation of each employee.

The Court is not criticizing this substantial disparity, because it is due to the coexistence in the civil

service sector of public servants subject to separate rules depending on their status and method of

compensation. It is also due to the principle of free administration granted to local authorities in the

regional civil service segment, and the fact that the hospital civil service segment is in reality, based on

a common foundation of general principles a “civil service comprised of institutions”. However, the

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widespread application of supplementary social protection, whose implementation procedures are

currently being negotiated, could end up reducing these disparities

3

.

Third finding: there is a clear need for seamless management in all segments of the

civil service sector

One major obstacle in the administration of sick leave is the virtual lack of dematerialisation of

supporting documents and data flows. It is a requirement for the sick leave forms completed by doctors

to be transmitted electronically for private sector employees, and this requirement should be

extended to public servants for the seamless and secure entry of sick leave data into HR information

systems and by the primary healthcare offices (called

“CPAM”

in the French Health Insurance System)

for fixed-term staff.

The transition to the registered social reporting

system for general government, under current

procedures, has only partially improved coverage of fixed-term staff by the general compensation

scheme: the data only include wages, excluding information on the start and end dates of sick leave.

This problem needs to be resolved in order for public sector employers to draw benefits from the

registered social reporting system equivalent to those of private sector employers, i.e. to be largely

freed from the burden of managing sick leave for fixed-term staff.

The option of subrogation for the management of fixed-term staff, frequently employed in the regional

and hospital civil services segments, is not available in the State civil service segment. This option,

which is both efficient and protective for staff, could be extended to the State civil service segment,

provided that the payroll management applications are adjusted accordingly, which is a particularly

binding prerequisite.

The sick leave data contained in the information systems of public sector employers are very under-

used as a management tool, either to help staff with complex processes in the event of long-term

illness or for prevention purposes. Furthermore, data on the reasons for sick leave are not available

for public sector employers, whereas CPAMs provide them to private sector employers in the form of

anonymous statistics. Data on the reasons for sick leave in the civil service sector should be collected

by CPAMs for statistical purposes, in order to document the prevention plans adopted by public sector

employers.

Overall, although regulations cannot be substantially simplified given that they intricately balance out

employer/employee rights and incorporate a wide variety of personal situations, administrative

departments need to be more professionalised and equipped with tools that are better suited to the

complexity of managing sick leave in the civil service sector. Similarly, staff should have a better

support and information system to help them understand the processes under way, and especially

how they impact their financial situation.

3

There is also significant diversity in the replacement rates of private sector employees, depending on the

supplementary social protection taken out by their respective employers.

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Fourth finding: absences relating to the health crisis have been handled

pragmatically

The public authorities were quick to adapt to the impacts of the health crisis on the personal and

professional lives of their staff. Although staff infected with COVID-19 were subject to the rules of

general law governing sick leave, exceptions were created for the application of the one-day waiting

period and coverage of fixed-term staff not yet meeting the necessary conditions for sick leave

compensation. Acute COVID-19 was also added to the list of occupational illnesses.

Above all, as a result of the health crisis, the scope of special absence authorisations was expanded

and permanently adapted to lockdown and isolation rules, which mainly benefited vulnerable staff

members in need of childcare, unable to work from home and for whom workstation adjustments

were impossible. For fixed-term staff, special absence authorisation were combined with the

establishment of daily social security allowance in cases of sick leave, with the employer paying wage

supplements to maintain the same level of compensation. Reporting to CPAMs was left to the

employer's discretion.

These unprecedented yet practical measures met staff needs in general, but came at the cost of the

urgent adaptation of coverage by employers. Little data was collected on the use of these measures

and no qualitative assessment of their effectiveness was performed. However, a follow-up system was

gradually developed by the Directorate of General Administration and Civil Service, but only for the

State civil service segment. In March 2021, the findings of a declarative survey conducted since October

2020 showed that around 0.5% of government employees, excluding teachers, were subject to special

absence authorisations at least one day per week and that around 3.4% reported being infected with

COVID-19. Little aggregate data are available for the regional and hospital civil services segments.

There have been a few HR initiatives aimed at verifying whether special absence authorisations are

properly applied to employee situations.

On the whole, even if the consolidated data for 2020 are not yet available, the volume of reported sick

leave did not increase as a result of the COVID-19 health crisis, due to the expanded use of special

absence authorisations.



Based on these observations, and above all the upward trend in sick leave, the Court recommends

taking resolute action, particularly to limit short-term sick leave.

The Court stresses that the measures taken to increase staff financial accountability and improve the

organisation of controls is not enough to change the current trend; improving the managerial

accountability of executive civil servants and healthcare professionals is also crucial. The rise in short-

term sick leave in the civil service sector may be the sign of a more widespread problem that needs to

be addressed by management.

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Strengthening management of short-term sick leave

Primary preventive initiatives (preventing the spread of seasonal illnesses and offering vaccinations in

the workplace) conducted by employers contribute to the effective management of short-term sick

leave. Lessons must be learned from the prophylactic measures implemented during the COVID-19

health crisis, which have had a spill-over effect on seasonal illnesses. Public sector employers could

then determine which preventive measures should be continued once the health crisis is over.

Combined with the one-day waiting period, which the Court found decreases the number of days of

sick leave, the conditions underlying the financial coverage of sick leave could encourage staff

members to limit the frequency and duration of short-term sick leave. Public sector employers should

have the option of modulating certain types of compensation based on absences, for example when

the frequency of sick leave is too high or the reason a matter of convenience only.

Financial incentives can also be made more effective through sick leave controls. However, most public

sector employers are struggling to implement an effective system and few controls are conducted,

despite the need for them. They essentially have a preventive effect on possible abuses of the system.

regional civil service management centres have been recognized for their role in performing controls

in the field of approved healthcare. Rolling out this type of service, which professionalises the

performance of controls, could be encouraged. If they were pooled together, employers in the State

and hospital civil services segments could also benefit from these services.

Unifying the long-term sick leave compensation scheme and expanding the

prevention of long-term sick leave

The long-term sick leave compensation scheme is based on two types of leave (long term or long

illness). However, the distinction between the two is not clear and not only complicates the

management of sick leave for employers but is also confusing for employees, who are already in a

vulnerable situation. In order to simplify and clarify this system, it would be better to create a single

type of leave, the conditions of which are better suited to staff needs (by renewing the list of eligible

illnesses, incorporating chronic diseases, etc.). This issue needs to be addressed through open-ended

negotiations on the scope of supplementary social protection, which will also examine cases in which

employees are facing job insecurity due to long-term leave.

Although the conceptual framework and resources assigned to the prevention policy are appropriate,

its implementation has proved lacking. The widespread application of supplementary healthcare could

be an opportunity to more closely involve supplementary insurers in the prevention policies

implemented by public sector employers. Prevention of professional disconnection calls for

implementing therapeutic part-time employment

and dividing up sick leave. While the use of

therapeutic part-time employment has been facilitated by a number of recent regulatory texts, public

sector employers need to be careful when applying it due to its cost and complex procedures. They

also need to make sure it becomes a genuine tool for professional reintegration, and not just a

convenient way to manage their workforce.

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For employees undergoing reclassification, when public sector employers sometimes have few

positions to offer them, the Healthcare & Family Order has made it possible to transfer them outside

their initial administration. In order to limit the risks of professional burn-out potentially leading to

reclassification, it could be useful to better identify the illnesses associated with certain jobs and to

include this type of information in the job descriptions for all three segments of the civil service sector.

Increasing the effectiveness of assessments by healthcare professionals

Doctors may well find it difficult to determine the appropriate length of time for sick leave, depending

on the sector and job. The Health Insurance System has developed factsheets to help guide them,

which could stand to have their scope expanded to cover all common illnesses, including in particular

occupational illnesses in the civil service sector.

More specifically, the Healthcare & Family Order replaced the Medical Committee and the Reform

Committee with the Medical Board as from 1 February 2022. Public sector managers should take

advantage of this reform to reduce sick leave processing times, which is the main criticism raised

against medical bodies. Based on the same level of resources, for cases of referrals maintained, the

future Medical Board could refocus its efforts on disagreements between administrations and

employees.

In addition, under the 2019 Public Service Transformation Act, healthcare services can be pooled

between the three segments of the civil service sector. As already pointed out for the organisation of

controls, these services could be pooled based on the model adopted by local management centres in

the regional civil service segment. The Interministerial Fund for the Improvement of Working

Conditions could be used to streamline the various healthcare services and share their

approaches/resources.



In conclusion, effective management of sick leave is highly important for the quality of public services

in many respects

–

not just financial or operational

–

and to that end, the mobilisation of public

authorities which has already begun needs to be stepped up.

Within the scope of the investigation requested by Parliament, the Court is contributing to this effort

by recommending the actions presented below to simplify and streamline a management system that

has grown complex and fragmented, and to empower all stakeholders to reverse the uptrend in sick

leave.