Sick-pay trends of the National Health Insurance Fund of Hungary between 1997 and 2017

Introduction: The role of sick-pay is to compensate for loss of wage in case of incapacity for work, to ensure that there will be no break in the existential state of the incapacitated person. Aim: The purpose of our research was to examine data on sickness benefit and payroll data for the period 1997-2017. Data and methods: Our research was based on the data of the National Health Insurance Fund of Hungary, the Hungarian Central Statistical Office, the State Audit Office of Hungary and the Hungarian State Treasury as well as on the background reports of the European Commission's Social Protection Committee and the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), and it is based on the legal environment of sick-pay. Results: In 1997, there were 119 000 of 3.558 million, in 1998 114 000 of 3.530 million, in 1999 115 000 of 3.433 million, in 2000 112 000 of 3.465 million, in 2006 100 000 of 3.523 million, in 2012 55 000 of 3.769 million entitled people on sick leave on average per day. In 2017, the number of entitled persons increased to 4.018 million, while the average number of sick days per day was 70 000. According to data from gender and age-based analysis, in most cases, women with childbearing were on sick-leave, the proportion of males was higher in relation to industrial accident. Between 2014 and 2016, the proportion of women on sick leave per day was 59-60%, while the major reason for sick-pay among men was the industrial accident. The distribution by age did not change significantly. In 2014-2015, the age-group 30-34, while in 2016 the age-group 35-39 had the highest utilization of sick-pay. Conclusion: We can conclude that the use of sick-pay is affected by the employment rate, legal changes affecting the amount of sick-pay and social trends like substitution difficulties due to labor shortages and fear of losing jobs.