[Analysis of work absenteeism due to illness in the provinces]

Sickness absenteeism in individual regions (voivodships) depends on various factors involved in temporary work disability, such as industrial advancement, industrial structure, socio-economic development, and recently also unemployment in individual regions as well as changes in the social insurance system. Certificates recording temporary work disability served as a reference material for the analysis. The material under study was derived from the nation-wide database covering a 15% random sample of those cards. Sickness absenteeism was expressed by the rate lost time which defined the percentage of work disability in days in relation to the product of calendar days and the mean number of the employed. In 1994 lost time rate in Poland accounted for 6.69 and it was very much diversified depending on individual regions. The lowest rates were registered in the region of Warsaw (3.17), Lomza (4.23), Suwałki (4.48), Koszalin (4.55) and Olsztyn (4.58), whereas the highest ones occurred in Sieradz (12.07), Nowy Sacz (11.10), Premyśl (10.08), Tarnŏw (9.98) and Tarnobrzeg (9.89) regions. Over a twofold increase in sick absenteeism in comparison with 1990 was noted in Siedlce, Tarnobrzeg, Tarnów, Ostrołeka, Sieradz and Zamość regions. The Sieradz region shows the highest rate of sick absenteeism due to diseases of the musculoskeletal system (2.87), gynecological diseases and complications of pregnancy (1.52), the Nowy Sacz region due to diseases of the respiratory (1.82) and the circulatory (1.90) systems, and the Przemyśl region due to neuroses, psychoses and other mental disorders (0.85). A considerable increase in sickness absenteeism in low industrialised regions (Siedlce, Ostrołeka, Chełm, Zamość and Sieradz) observed during the last five years applies mostly to chronic diseases and it related with the right to sickness benefits which discloses poor health of workers employed in agriculture. Industrial restructuring and establishment of small-scale enterprises have also contributed to essential changes in regional diversification of sickness absenteeism. These changes confirm the need verifying the discussed relationship through an in-depth study.