How Much Doesa Sick Employee Cost a Company?

290.5 million days of sickness absence, 27.5 million medical certificates and nearly PLN 35 billion in direct expenditure in a single year. Employee illness is carrying an increasingly measurable price tag. Yet the bill also includes costs that do not appear in Poland’s Social Insurance Institution statistics: replacement staff, overtime, disrupted operations, delays and lost productivity. Another problem is that many Poles choose to work despite being ill — even while officially on sick leave. Employee health is therefore no longer solely the domain of HR. Increasingly, it is becoming an issue for chief financial officers and management boards.

The latest data from Poland’s Social Insurance Institution (ZUS) show the scale of the problem. In 2025, 27.5 million medical certificates for temporary incapacity to work were issued in Poland, translating into 290.5 million days of sickness absence. The average period of sick leave lasted around 11 days.

The economic cost is even more telling. Expenditure related to sickness absence reached PLN 34.88 billion in 2025, 12.4 percent more than a year earlier. Of this amount, PLN 20.71 billion consisted of sickness benefits financed by the Social Insurance Fund. Another PLN 14.17 billion was spent on sick pay financed by employers and the Guaranteed Employee Benefits Fund.
Yet this is only the beginning of the bill. For a company, the cost of an employee’s absence often starts where ZUS statistics end.

The Cost You Cannot See
An absent employee has to be replaced. Their responsibilities are taken over by other members of the team, leading to overtime, the need to reorganize work or postpone deadlines. In the case of highly qualified specialists, finding a replacement quickly may be impossible.
There is also a cost that is much harder to calculate — presenteeism. The employee is present, but because of illness, pain, stress or exhaustion, performs below their potential. Concentration and productivity decline, while the risk of mistakes increases. The real cost of employee health problems is therefore higher than the figure reflected in sickness-absence statistics.
The paradox is that some employees try to limit the cost of their absence by remaining professionally active despite being ill. From the company’s perspective, however, this may simply shift the cost — from absence to lower efficiency, a greater risk of mistakes, prolonged illness or health problems among other members of the team.

Sick, but Still Online
Poles continue to put work before their health. According to enel-med’s Łączy nas zdrowie 2025 report, 60 percent of respondents admitted that they had chosen not to take sick leave despite being ill. The most common reason was an excessive workload, cited by 27 percent. In one in five cases — 21 percent — the decision resulted from the lack of anyone to take over their duties.
Pressure from employers is also far from uncommon: 12 percent of Poles say that sick leave is frowned upon in their workplace. In addition, 9 percent of employees fear losing their jobs and therefore choose not to rest despite being ill.

Moreover, even when an employee formally goes on sick leave, they do not always stop working. Some 34 percent of Poles admitted that they had worked while on sick leave, an increase from 2024, when 29 percent of respondents gave the same answer.

Urgent duties are the most common reason. Some 18 percent of respondents worked during sick leave because certain matters required their involvement, 9 percent did so on their own initiative to stay up to date, while in 7 percent of cases a manager expected them to remain available despite their illness. At the same time, 63 percent say they have never worked while on sick leave.
The differences are particularly visible between small and large organizations. Employees of micro, small and medium-sized companies are much more likely to work while on sick leave: 20 percent because of urgent duties, 10 percent on their own initiative and 8 percent at the explicit request of their boss. In corporations, the corresponding figures are lower, at 13 percent, 6 percent and 5 percent.

As Professor Małgorzata Dobrowolska, a business psychologist and expert in building mental resilience, explains, rest is not a luxury but a biological necessity.

„For a long time, the most highly valued skill in the labor market was simply the ability to withstand fatigue gritting one’s teeth without reflection and working beyond one’s limits. Today, we know that mental resilience the ability to recover, adapt and regain balance after stress is far more valuable. It determines whether we will remain effective for years to come, rather than merely for weeks”, the expert says.

The Body Also Presents a Bill
Mental health is not the only area in which employees pay the price for excessive strain. In 2025, musculoskeletal and connective tissue disorders accounted for 42.4 million days of incapacity to work. These include problems affecting the spine, joints and musculoskeletal system — conditions that affect both manual workers and people who spend many hours at a desk.
„42.4 million days of incapacity to work are not only a health problem for employees, but also a very tangible problem for employers. Behind every one of those days is a person who is absent from work, but also the cost of replacement, the reorganization of responsibilities and, often, a decline in the productivity of the entire team. That is why it is worth taking care of musculoskeletal health before sick leave becomes necessary. And this does not always require major programs. Sometimes it starts with a properly arranged workstation, the ability to change position, breaks from sitting for many hours or simple exercises performed during the day. For manual workers, proper work organization, reducing excessive strain and teaching correct techniques for lifting and carrying heavy objects are extremely important. Quick access to a physiotherapist or doctor when the first symptoms appear can also be an effective solution. The earlier we respond, the greater the chance that the problem can be resolved without a prolonged absence from work. Employers should therefore view prevention not as an additional cost, but as an investment in the fitness of their people. A healthy employee is not merely someone who takes sick leave less often. It is also someone who can work effectively, without pain or limitations, for many years to come. When it comes to the musculoskeletal system, one principle works particularly well: it is better to prevent excessive strain than to pay for its consequences later”, says orthopedic surgeon Dr. Bartłomiej Kacprzak.

It is no coincidence, then, that physical activity is increasingly discussed not only in the context of health, but also of efficiency. The WHO and OECD report Step Up! shows that comprehensive measures to increase physical activity can generate around €1.70 in economic benefits for every euro invested. The report’s authors also point out that programs aimed at reducing sedentary behavior at work can deliver measurable economic benefits — in OECD models, every €1 invested in such measures generated around €4.10 in economic benefits.

For employers, physical activity can therefore be one component of a broader strategy to reduce strain and burnout. Regular exercise not only helps lower the risk of many diseases, but also supports mental health and cognitive function. For a company, this potentially means fewer health problems, as well as a greater chance of maintaining employees’ concentration and performance.

„The financial losses caused by employees’ lack of physical activity are a real problem. This is not merely about the impact of working days lost to health problems, but above all the enormous number of hours spent in the office in a state of reduced productivity, when our actions are less effective, decisions are slower, mistakes are more frequent and people’s potential remains underused. In an era of permanent crises, a physically inactive leader is a leader with dramatically lower resilience to stress, which translates directly into management style, team culture and the rate at which an organization burns out. And, most importantly in these times, into mental resilience. It is time to start treating physical activity as a serious strategy for preventing professional burnout and as a tool for maintaining high psychological performance where the stakes are highest”, Professor Dobrowolska explains.

Mental Health Has a Cost, Too
In 2025, mental and behavioral disorders accounted for 34.1 million days of absence, compared with 30.3 million a year earlier. In just one year, therefore, the number increased by around 3.8 million days.

Mental resilience is no longer seen solely as the domain of psychology and therapy. Increasingly, it is becoming an economic category as well. In the workplace, the ability to cope with pressure, change and uncertainty has measurable value. The World Economic Forum’s Future of Jobs identifies resilience, flexibility and agility among the skills at the very top of employers’ expectations. The reason is simple: a shortage of these skills translates into real costs.
The scale of the problem is also evident in mental-health data. According to the latest OECD analyses, the mental-health crisis reduces the annual GDP of European countries by an average of 1.7 percent. At the same time, the cost of treating mental disorders and the consequences of lost productivity amounts to €76 billion a year. From a corporate perspective, hidden costs are equally important: absence, employee departures and presenteeism — situations in which an employee comes to work despite being ill but is unable to perform at full capacity.
Investing in mental well-being is therefore not merely an image-building exercise or part of HR policy. Deloitte UK data show that it can have a very tangible financial dimension: on average, every pound spent on employees’ mental health generated a fivefold return, including through reductions in absence, turnover and presenteeism.

„We finally need to say this out loud: letting go is not weakness, but a smart strategy. The most effective leaders and employees are not those who sit in front of a screen for 12 hours a day, but those who know how to switch between periods of intense effort and full, deep recovery. Rest is no longer a reward for being productive. It has become an absolute prerequisite for maintaining that productivity”, Professor Małgorzata Dobrowolska says.

When an Employee Cannot Disappear
Why do employees choose to work despite being ill? One of the key reasons is the lack of adequate cover.

„In my experience, the main source of pressure is not always a manager’s direct expectations, but the lack of anyone who can realistically step in. Employees feel responsible for projects and teams, and knowing that no one will take over their duties, they decide to remain active even when they are ill. Increased work during sick leave therefore often stems from concern for business continuity rather than a lack of loyalty to one’s own health”, comments Agata Kasperska, HR Manager at Fulfilio.

This shows that the problem of absence does not begin on the day an employee fails to show up at the office. It may be a consequence of the way work is organized, the lack of backup resources and a corporate culture in which responsibility for business continuity rests with individual employees.

Employee health is therefore becoming part of operational and financial risk management. A company that has no replacement for a key person is vulnerable not only to that person’s illness, but also to the consequences of decisions they make at a time when they should be resting.

Prevention Instead of Paying for the Consequences
It is precisely these data that are changing the way employers look at privately funded healthcare.
Medical subscriptions, health insurance, access to diagnostics, physiotherapy and psychological support have for years functioned primarily as benefits designed to make companies more attractive in the labor market. Today, they can play another role — as part of managing the risks associated with sickness absence.

This does not mean that every well-being program will automatically generate savings for a company. The key is to tailor measures to the organization’s actual problems.
If musculoskeletal conditions are the main cause of absence, workplace ergonomics, rapid access to specialists and physiotherapy may matter. If prolonged absences related to stress and mental disorders are increasing, access to psychologists and psychiatrists becomes important, as does the way work itself is organized.

Prevention then ceases to mean funding random benefits. It becomes an investment targeted at the areas where the company faces its greatest health and economic risks.

Employees Point to Solutions
Employees themselves recognize the importance of access to healthcare. According to enel-med’s Łączy nas zdrowie report, 43 percent of Poles identified comprehensive medical packages as the most effective solution for reducing the number of sick leaves. A year earlier, 38 percent of respondents gave the same answer.

Next came additional days off, cited by 36 percent, personalized healthcare packages at 22 percent and measures supporting work-life balance at 21 percent. Sports cards would be important for 18 percent of employees, while the same proportion pointed to access to a psychologist. One in ten respondents believes that workplace vaccinations would be helpful.
Employees of large organizations and the SME sector view health-support measures somewhat differently. Corporate employees are significantly more likely than those working for smaller companies to point to the role of medical packages — 48 percent versus 40 percent — additional days off, at 45 percent versus 31 percent, and access to a psychologist, at 22 percent versus 17 percent.

Health Lands on the CFO’s Desk
Polish society is aging, and as the workforce grows older, diagnostics, chronic diseases and prevention become increasingly important. At the same time, the scale of mental-health problems is rising rapidly.

For companies, this means that employee health policy can no longer be merely a line item in the HR department’s budget.

„The survey results clearly show that employees expect solutions that genuinely make it easier for them to take care of their health — both through rapid access to specialists and the ability to rest when it is truly needed. This is an important signal for employers: medical packages, psychological support and additional days off are ceasing to be perceived as benefits and are becoming the foundation of a healthy working environment. In large organizations, there is increasingly clear awareness of the role of prevention and concern for team well-being. Our task as employers is to create conditions that allow people to take care of their health before a more serious absence occurs because, ultimately, an employee with a fever and a runny nose is neither effective nor safe for others”, says Alina Smolarek, HR Director at enel-med.

The 290.5 million days of sickness absence and nearly PLN 35 billion in direct expenditure in a single year illustrate the scale of the problem. The real bill, however, is higher once replacement staff, overtime, disrupted operations, presenteeism and lost productivity are taken into account.
Good medical care will not eliminate illness or sick leave. It can, however, facilitate earlier diagnosis, faster treatment and a quicker return to professional activity. Companies should therefore look not only at the price of a medical package, but also at the cost of problems that could have been prevented earlier. Because a company can save money on prevention while paying far more for its absence.