In France, the average number of work absences per employee per year is approaching two, with absenteeism reaching record levels. According to the Apicil Group’s Observatory, released on September 24, the absenteeism rate in companies reached 4.68% in 2025, up from 4.41% the previous year. This marks the highest level since 2022. The increase is largely due to a rise in absences lasting more than 90 days, which now account for over 50% of the absenteeism rate. These prolonged absences have grown by 0.21 percentage points since 2024. Absences lasting more than 30 days make up more than 73% of all absenteeism. Of these, 42.75% are attributed to mental health issues, while 30.54% are due to musculoskeletal disorders. Illness remains the leading cause of absence, accounting for 90.03% of all cases. Therapeutic part-time leaves, which allow employees to reduce their working hours due to health reasons, have become the second most common cause of absence, at 4.57%, a 32% increase in proportion compared to the previous year. This has surpassed work-related accidents, which account for 4.41% of absences. Nearly 28% of employees had at least one work absence in the year, with an average of 1.90 absences per absent employee. The groups most affected by absenteeism include workers (6.52% absenteeism rate compared to 2.52% for managers), older workers (5.92% compared to 3.54% for those under 30), women (5.60% compared to 3.76% for men), and employees on permanent contracts (4.97% compared to 1.99% for those on fixed-term contracts). These findings are being used by Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu to emphasize the issue of sick leave in upcoming discussions about the 2027 Social Security budget. To address rising costs, the government has already implemented several measures to limit the increase in daily allowances paid by the Health Insurance. Since September 1, the duration of primary prescribed work absences is capped at one month, regardless of whether the absence is prescribed by a private doctor or a hospital doctor. In April 2025, the daily allowance ceiling was reduced from 1.8 to 1.4 times the minimum wage (SMIC). The government also plans to lower the ceiling for work accidents and occupational diseases to 1.8 SMIC, starting in November 1. The cost of sick leave is significant, with 12.1 billion euros in daily allowances paid in 2025, and 17.9 billion euros when including work accidents and occupational diseases. A government-commissioned report proposed transferring the coverage of short-term work absences to pension funds, though the exact number of days covered remains unspecified. This would require all companies to provide such coverage, which is not currently standard practice.