# Sickness absence rises to 4.9% in September

> Sickness absence rose in September from August, and new sick reports jumped by almost half, even in a warm month, the occupational health services say.

Economy · published 2026-10-29 07:06 · updated 2026-10-29 08:25 · https://nlnow.nl/a/sickness-absence-rises-to-4-9-in-september-despite-warm-weather/

The absence rate rose to 4.9% in September, up from 4.6% in August, the occupational health services HumanCapitalCare and ArboNed reported. Together they support almost 1 million employees. In September last year the rate was 4.7%.

The number of sick reports rose from 39 to 58 per 1,000 employees, an increase of 49%. That happened despite the warm weather in September.

**Absence is higher than a month and a year earlier** (%; source: HumanCapitalCare and ArboNed)

- September 2025: 4.7
- August 2026: 4.6
- September 2026: 4.9

Iris Homeijer, company doctor and medical director at HumanCapitalCare, said: "You might expect that at such temperatures colds and other flu complaints play hardly any role, but we don't see that in the sick reports."

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