A reduction in the amount of sick pay Hungarians are entitled to will save the state HUF 2 billion in 2011 and HUF 5 billion each year after that, an update to the government’s structural reform programme published by the National Economy Ministry on Monday shows.
A bill approved by Parliament on March 16 cuts the maximum amount of sick pay per day to 200% of the minimum wage from 400%.
The ministry said that the number of sick days taken by Hungarian workers fell to 32.8 million in 2009 from 99.4 million in 1990. During the same period, sick pay expenditures rose to HUF 108 billion from HUF 24.3 billion. The percentage of employees on sick pay fell from 6% in 1990 to 4.5% in 1995, 3.2% in 1998 and 2.6% in 2009 because of regulatory changes and stricter controls, it added.
The ministry noted that sick pay expenditures fell under HUF 80 billion in 2010 to around a level last seen in 2002.
Producing journalism that is worthy of the name is a costly business. For over 30 years, the publishers, editors and reporters of the Budapest Business Journal have striven to bring you business news that works, information that you can trust, that is factual, accurate and presented without fear or favor.Newspaper organizations across the globe have struggled to find a business model that allows them to continue to excel, without compromising their ability to perform. Most recently, some have experimented with the idea of involving their most important stakeholders, their readers.
We would like to offer that same opportunity to our readers. We would like to invite you to help us deliver the quality business journalism you require. Hit our Support the BBJ button and you can choose the how much and how often you send us your contributions.
