The Sick Pay Trap
22 Pages Posted: 25 Apr 2011
Abstract
In most countries, employers are financially responsible for sick pay during an initial period of a worker's absence spell, after which the public insurance system covers the bill. Based on a quasi-natural experiment in Norway, where pay liability was removed for pregnancy-related absences, we show that firms' absence costs significantly affect employees' absence behavior. However, by restricting pay liability to the initial period of the absence spell, firms are discouraged from letting long-term sick workers back into work, since they then face the financial risk associated with subsequent relapses. We show that this disincentive effect is statistically and economically significant.
Keywords: absenteeism, social insurance, experience rating, multivariate hazard rate models
JEL Classification: C14, C41, H55, I18, J23
Suggested Citation: Suggested Citation
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