Sick Leave Due to Stress, What are the Costs for Dutch Employers?

The dataset included employees who saw an occupational physician, so people who recovered before that visit were not counted. This likely overestimates the average duration and cost of episodes. Comorbid mental or somatic disorders were not separated from stress-related diagnoses, so other conditions may have influenced absence duration. Presenteeism, or reduced productivity while working, was not counted, so total productivity loss is higher than the absenteeism costs reported. The costs reflect Dutch employer wage-payment rules and reimbursement scenarios, so they do not transfer directly to other countries or health systems. No treatment was tested, so the study cannot show that any therapy or workplace intervention reduces sick leave.

Do not read these costs as evidence that a therapy or workplace intervention works. The study only describes duration and wage costs of recorded sick leave episodes; it did not randomise or test any treatment.