Small Business: Twenty per cent of bosses would sack sick workers

A survey carried out by Research International (RI) for small business organisation The Federation of Private Enterprises, reveals that twenty per cent of small business owners in Sweden said they would sack employees who went on long-term sick leave, in order to avoid paying their share of the costs.

The Local, reports that a new system introduced at the beginning of the year, means that employers are forced to pay part of their employees' sick pay. The Federation of Private Enterprises argues this has been an effective way of forcing those on long-term sick leave out of the job market.

Of those who said that they could avoid paying, 23 percent said that the solution was to get the employee back to work either part or full-time, eight percent said that the sick employee would get money for rehabilitation according to what the social insurance office thought was appropriate, and 21 percent replied that the employee would have to leave the company.