The State Secretaries for Labour, Joaquín Pérez Rey, and for Social Security and Pensions, Borja Suárez, have reiterated this Wednesday their opposition to properly justified absences from work due to illness being labeled as absenteeism, asserting the right of employees not to go to their workplace when they are not in a position to perform their duties.
At the press conference to analyze the unemployment and affiliation data corresponding to October, Suárez has insisted that it is incorrect to use the term absenteeism to refer to absences backed by health-related reasons, considering that this concept should be reserved for unjustified absences from work.
In this vein, he has defended that the temporary disability protection system is "appropriate" or "reasonably appropriate" and has pointed out that it must be subject to review and analysis within the framework of the Toledo Pact.
At the same time, he has questioned the proposal that Social Security should once again take on payment of the temporary disability benefit between the fourth and the fifteenth day of leave, understanding that the current scheme constitutes a model consolidated since the 1990s.
On the other hand, Pérez Rey has called on business organizations not to “criminalize” workers who are absent from their positions because they are ill and are not in a position to work. The State Secretary for Labour has stressed that this is a right won and has emphasized that health protection must be placed “front and centre”.