The presented line chart delineates the fluctuating rates of employees taking sick leave across several European nations from 1991 to 2001.
Overall, variations in sickness absence rates are evident in different countries. The Netherlands consistently registered the highest rate of individuals taking sick leave from work, whereas Germany reported the lowest rate among all years examined.
The Netherlands and France commenced the period with a comparable rate of around 5%. Subsequently, the former witnessed a slight increase by approximately 0.5% within a year before undergoing a substantial decline to just over 4% by 1996. However, a gradual recovery ensued, reaching a peak of approximately 5.4% in 2001. In contrast, the latter experienced a substantial drop to 3% by 1999 and thereafter plateaued for the remainder of the period.
In Sweden, the rate of sick leave among laborers remained relatively steady at about 3% between 1991 and 1995, before undergoing a surge to approximately 4.7% by 2001. On the other hand, both the UK and Germany demonstrated minimal fluctuations over the period. The UK remained consistent around 2.5%, while Germany sustained a notably lower rate of around 1.5%.