Romanian employees skipped work more often last year than the year before, but the rate of absenteeism at work is still below the European average.

A European study shows that the absenteeism rate in Romania rose to 2.4% last year, from 1.5% in 2013, reports local Digi24. This means that, on average, a Romanian skips work six days a year, from a total of 230 working days.

In order to justify these absences, people usually call in sick or pretend to have family problems.

“The cost is nearly EUR 700 per absent person over a period of one year, compared to around EUR 300 in previous years,” said Horațiu Cocheci, HR specialist, quoted by Digi24.

The absenteeism rate in Romania is however below the European average of 3.5%. The European figure is lower than in 2013, when it stayed at 4.2%.

Irina Popescu, irina.popescu@romania-insider.com