The number of claims for sick leave benefit increased by over 20,000 during 2008 when compared to the previous year, figures obtained by The Malta Independent show.

The Social Policy Ministry said that in 2007, there were 106,440 claims from people for sick leave benefit, for a total of e6,277,591 handed out in benefits.

Last year, the number of claims increased to 126,667 (20,227 more than a year earlier), and this cost the taxpayer e6,446,491.

On average, each claim cost the Social Security Department e49.56.

The ministry was replying to questions put by The Malta Independent in its ongoing investigation into sick leave abuse. Reports carried on Sunday and yesterday revealed that some MPs and candidates are among doctors who issue fraudulent sick leave certificates, a claim that was made by Union Haddiema Maghqudin secretary general Gejtu Vella.

It was also reported that the Malta Employers’ Association is preparing to hold a survey to determine the number of sick leave days taken per employee. The last such survey was held in 2004, when it was found that each private sector employee took an average of 5.2 sick leave days in a year, while public service employees took 10.

These figures are low when compared to what happens, for example, in Italy, where workers take an average of 20 days of sick leave per year. This has prompted the Italian government to hint that it will be enforcing a law that stipulates that people who abuse of sick leave benefits could be sent to prison for between one to five years, or fined between e400 and e1,600.

The figures obtained from the Social Policy Ministry show that, if workers applied for sick leave benefit only once during 2008, then a staggering 83 per cent of the workforce – the number of part-time and full-time employees in Malta hovers around the 151,000 mark – applied for sick leave benefit during that year.

Of course, there are a number of workers who applied for such benefit more than once, and this means that the actual number of employees who did not put in a claim for sickness benefit is more than 25,000.

Most of the claims for sickness benefit are genuine, but in its report for 2008, the Social Security Division does not mention any specific investigations into sick leave abuse.

The report, a copy of which has been obtained by The Malta Independent, speaks of a Benefit Fraud and Investigations Directorate which, in 2008, reviewed 271 cases, 152 of whom had their social security benefit entitlement suspended.

Yet, the division’s duties cover all other aspects of social security, and the report does not go into detail as to what kind of abuse was investigated.

It is however specified that it is the objective of the department to increase the review of dubious cases. In 2008, seven officers were specifically trained to deal with such cases and the intentions are to further strengthen the effort to curb abuse.