According to a report by recruitment consultants Randstad, the Balearics have the lowest work absenteeism rate in the country.
Based on figures for the first quarter of this year. around 22,000 employees missed a day's work. This was a rate of four per cent. The national rate was 5.2%. In Spain, almost one million workers had a day's absence. The highest rates were in the Basque Country and Asturias: respectively 7.1% and 6.2%.
The report states that absenteeism in the Balearics corresponded to the loss of nine million hours. Nationally, this was 450 million hours, with almost half of these hours having been in a combination of Andalusia, Catalonia and Madrid. The services sector had the highest rate - 5.4%. For construction it was just 2.7%.
The director of studies for Randstad, Valentin Bote, says that absenteeism has a direct impact on productivity and business costs as well as on other workers, as it involves heavier workloads at specific times. He advocates systems of flexible working, as these can prevent situations that result in absenteeism.