The study published Tuesday June 9 describes a higher “norm” of post-Covid absenteeism, with increasing durations among executives and seniors.
Published Tuesday June 9, the work of Malakoff Humanis highlights a clear increase in absenteeism among private sector employees since the Covid-19 crisis. Between 2019 and 2025, the overall rate increased by 25.5% to reach 4.3%, a sign that “pre-Covid levels are permanently behind us” and that “the norm has been established higher” after the rupture of 2020. This increase is accompanied by longer work stoppages.
Longer stops, mental health at the top of the reasons
Although the absenteeism rate for executives remains almost twice lower than that for non-executives, it is increasing more quickly over the period 2019-2025 (+35.2%), driven by the lengthening of stoppages. The average duration of sick leave for executives is 20.2 days. Among senior employees, the duration of leave is increasing “under the effect of the aging of the active population”, which weighs on the overall dynamic.
Illnesses linked to mental health now constitute the primary reason for long absences (more than 30 days), ahead of musculoskeletal disorders and trauma. They explain 37.8% of stoppages in 2025, compared to 30.3% in 2019. This emphasis is consistent with work in occupational health which documents the psychological impact of the health crisis on employees.
A spending dynamic already at work before the pandemic
This recent acceleration is part of an underlying trend documented by the DREES on a broader scope, that of private sector employees and civil service contract workers. Between 2010 and 2019, the number of days compensated increased by an average of 2.3% per year for illness and by 2.1% for sick leave linked to work accidents and occupational illnesses (AT-MP). The amounts paid increased faster than the number of days (+2.9% per year for illness; +3.2% for AT-MP), under the effect of the trend increase in salaries. Since 2019, the DREES has observed an accentuation of this dynamic, with a strong growth in sick leave during the pandemic marked by two exceptional peaks, while maternity leave declined over the period.
The Malakoff Humanis study combines an Ifop barometer of 3,000 employees, the analysis of stoppages declared by its 3.8 million customers and the medical monitoring of 300,000 long stoppages, thus crossing frequency, duration and reasons for stoppages to support the observation of a change in regime post-2020.
Faced with these trends, Malakoff Humanis recommends investing in prevention and better supporting the return to work to limit the duration of sick leave, through “therapeutic part-time” and “job adaptation”. On the public authorities’ side, the avenues mentioned include a “prevention kit”, an “alert button” and “rehabilitation pathways”.
Without action on prevention and support for recovery, the extension of work stoppages — particularly among executives and seniors — risks maintaining a level of absenteeism that is lastingly higher than before the crisis.
