Incapacity for Work Due to Disease or Injury in the Czech Republic 

Introductory note

Contents

As the results of processing the report Nem Úr 1-02 show, some changes in the development of sickness and accidents rates occurred in the 1st half of 2005, in comparison to the corresponding period of 2004 and in comparison to the end of 2004.

Under a higher number of insured persons by 0.9%, new notified cases of incapacity for work in total (i.e. due to disease plus accidents at work and other accidents) per 100 insured persons went significantly up from 33.34 to 40.34 (+21% y-o-y).

On the other hand, the average duration per case of incapacity for work dropped from 34.02 in the 1st half of 2004 to 30.12 in the 1st half of 2005. Compared to the average duration of incapacity for work in the year 2004, the decrease was more marked (-4.65 days, index 86.6). This comparison shows that while the number of new notified cases of incapacity for work grew, their average duration was down.

In consequence of the above-mentioned changes (faster growth of new notified cases), the average percentage of incapacity for work represented by the total indicator of sickness and accident rates grew from 6.233 to 6.712 y-o-y, i.e. by nearly half percentage point (index 107.7). The average percentage of incapacity for work rose from 5.857 in the year 2004 to 6.712 in the 1st half of 2005.

It is apparent that, after a considerable fall in the average percentage of incapacity for work in 2004, which was affected inter alia by the amendment to Act No 54/1956 Coll., on health insurance (in effect since 1 January 2004) that enacted a significant change in the calculation of sickness benefits, the average percentage of incapacity for work and some other indicators tend to return to higher levels, yet they still are lower than in the preceding years.