This year's end-of-year holidays fell on weekdays. Business owners say employees who had not been granted holiday took the time off using sick leave.

Data from the Health Insurance Fund shows the number of sick leave and care leave certificates issued nearly doubled on the Mondays of both holiday weeks. For example, nearly 2,800 sick notes were issued on the Monday of Christmas week, while 1,500 people reported sick the next day.

Ille Nakurt-Murumaa, head of the Estonian Association of Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises (EVEA), said his is a "very big problem."

"And it is not just a problem for small businesses, but also for large ones. Last Christmas it was especially relevant because the holidays aligned so conveniently that a couple of days on sick leave gave employees quite a long vacation," she told evening news show "Aktuaalne kaamera" (AK).

Nakurt-Murumaa said the issue is more serious in companies where employees work shifts, and there is little flexibility for granting days off.

Additionally, she claimed, sick leave is increasingly being used as a tool to pressure employers.

"I have two cases right now in my companies where an employee said, 'Then I'll take sick leave,' and did so, because the employer had asked them to come into the office at least three times a week," Nakkurt-Murumaa said.

Entrepreneur Evelin Liiva highlighted that people in the Narva area and their children tend to be exceptionally "sick" twice a year — during Christmas and Midsummer. However, it is also common to hear from employees across Estonia that people take care leave to look after their children rather than sick leave because it is better paid.

Family doctor Triinu-Mari Ots said a certificate of incapacity for work can be opened and shut without having seen the patient. This is done based on a phone call or a written request.

"We trust our patients, and there are many, many illnesses that I cannot prove with any test, or by looking at or touching the patient," Ots said.

The doctor said employers can turn to the Health Insurance Fund if they have concerns about an employee. Over the past two years, 159 applications to verify sick leave have been made.

"Based on those requests, we reviewed 555 sick leave cases, and in 134 of them, the issuance was either partially or fully unjustified. 'Partially' means that the initial or final days of the sick leave were not justified," said Jelena Kont, head of supervisory services at the Health Insurance Fund.

In such cases, the doctor must repay the Health Insurance Fund the compensation, which has totaled nearly €53,000.

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