Waiting day reimbursement for the first sickness absence day among blue-collar workers in retail and wholesale during the pandemic

BACKGROUND: During the COVID-19 pandemic in Sweden, individuals could claim compensation for the unpaid waiting day of a sickness absence spell, through a new waiting day reimbursement scheme. The factors associated with claiming this are unknown. AIM: To investigate factors associated with claiming the waiting day reimbursement among blue-collar workers in the retail and wholesale industry. METHOD: = 297,378) were followed March 11 2020-30 September 2021 regarding waiting day reimbursement and sickness absence spells >14 days. Sickness absence spells were matched to waiting day reimbursement based on dates. A logistic general estimating equation model was used to estimate odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) of sickness absence spells having waiting day reimbursement, adjusted for sociodemographic and sickness absence-related factors. RESULTS: Fifty per cent of the workers and 57% of all sickness absence spells had waiting day reimbursement. Longer sickness absence spells had lower odds of having waiting day reimbursement, with a gradient depending on spell duration (OR 0.44; CI 0.40-0.48 for spells ≥365 days compared to 15-21 days). Sickness absence spells with COVID-like diagnoses had higher odds of waiting day reimbursement (2.30; 2.12-2.49 compared to musculoskeletal diagnoses). Most differences regarding sociodemographic or work-related variables were non-significant.