It's a totally new "test". Health Insurance has decided to experiment with large companies with a high level of absenteeism by informing them of the reasons for sick leave by their employees. "The rate of absenteeism in some companies is sometimes 3 to 4 times higher than the average of companies in the same sector," he explains. Figaro Marine Jeantet, Director of Occupational Risks at Health Insurance. For now, the experiment - which began two months ago - focuses on five companies of about 350 employees each spread throughout France.

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In concrete terms, the aim of this experiment is to guide the actions of companies with a view to improving working conditions. "The idea is to say to a company: 'You have a lot of work stoppages related to musculoskeletal disorders compared to your competitors, there may be actions to be done on this subject'" , illustrates Marine Jeantet. To bring back this data, the Health Insurance will use an algorithm that will dive into its files and identify pathologies from consultations and reimbursed drugs. Only certain pathologies are targeted, in particular low back pain, musculoskeletal disorders or even psychosocial risks (insomnia, depression, anxiety attacks, burn-out), but not the "small common stops".

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To encourage business awareness, Health Insurance will also convert absences into direct costs (value of wages paid) and indirect costs. "We try to speak their language and we want to give them a little shock. Companies do not measure the impact of absenteeism on their performance, "says Marine Jeantet.

The anonymity of the employees preserved

The processing of data, authorized by the Social Security Code, may raise questions about the issue of anonymity. "The data shared with the company are obviously anonymous," says Marine Jeantet. First, the data are aggregated by "large families" of reasons (musculoskeletal disorders, psychosocial risks, etc ...). In addition, the scheme only concerns companies with more than 200 employees so that the link between causes of absence and employees is impossible. "In the companies we are already experiencing, this represents 14,000 days of sick leave over a year," says Marine Jeantet.

Will the experiment be expanded? "We are in the testing phase," answers Marine Jeantet. Before going on: "We will have a follow-up in 2018 to see how it goes. Companies must be given time to put actions in place. " Ultimately, if successful, the Health Insurance would like to deploy its device throughout France.