Although they don't yet have precise data, unions say that absenteeism due to workplace accidents and sickness has increased compared to last year, when it was already problematic. A cause is the "permanent mismatch" between the amount of work and the size of the workforce.
Silvia Montejano of the CCOO says that problems with work overload are being repeated this season due to the imbalance between staff and volume of work. And this is a season with a record number of tourists. The peak for sick leave is from mid-July to mid-September; the absolute peak is in mid-August.
She explains that when businesses with few employees have one or two people off sick, this has a great impact on the other employees. They have to take on even more work, thereby reinforcing a vicious circle brought about by the mismatch between the volume of activity and the size of the workforce. Montejano adds that the situation isn't helped by the current Balearic government having eliminated the additional workplace inspections that the previous government had established.
A recent study by recruitment firm Randstad indicated that absenteeism due to sick leave is mostly confined to the high season months in regions such as the Balearics which have intense seasonal economic activity. It practically disappears in the low season. In fact, the Balearics had Spain's lowest rate of absenteeism in the first quarter of 2024 - four per cent.
As to heat waves and the generally higher temperatures now being experienced in summer, the unions plan to introduce clauses that ensure greater protection from thermal stress and that will tighten the obligations that companies already have under national legislation.
José García of the UGT says: "We have to go a little further than the law and incorporate more and better prevention measures. It is something that we are going to put on the table for the next agreements. In construction, work must be stopped for a period in the middle of the day, but catering staff can't do this. So, what can we do? We have to establish other preventive measures to ensure the health of workers."
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I would love to live and work in Mallorca and marry a beautiful local lady, but I would be giving up a really good paying job here. I am in love with the island and I hope to keep coming. Second year now for me.
I agree. Also, the people who have to pickup, wash, dry, press, fold and deliver every single sheet, pillowcase and towel used during the season, in hot, humid, noisy, and sometimes dangerous working conditions, often 24/7, for minimum wage pay and to add insult to injury, no tips.
I am full of admiration for any Staff who can work during Mallorcas continuing heat wave. Every Summer there will be very hot weather. Staff in kitchens, cleaners of Apartments, Hotels etc. Waiting Staff. To everyone WELL DONE.