Broken Heart, New Alfa Romeo, Funded by Belgian Taxpayers
Broken Heart, New Alfa Romeo, Funded by Belgian Taxpayers
Broken Heart, New Alfa Romeo, Funded by Belgian Taxpayers| Michael C. Moynihan
Today's Wall Street Journal looks at the epidemic of healthy sick people in
Belgium (i.e. people with hangovers bilking the government and their employers
by taking advantage of the country's overly generous sick leave policies). In a
Hit & Run post last year, I mentioned that, according to OECD figures, Sweden
is one of the healthiest countries in Europe, yet its citizens topped the
tables in accrued sick days. Odd, that.
Back in June, I offered the following anecdote from Sweden: "An acquaintance of
mine in Stockholm was on sick leave for six months, collecting three-quarters
of his salary after his girlfriend left him, rendering him "burned
out"—utmattningssyndrom—and incapable of work." Well, according to the Journal,
brokenhearted Belgians are also forcing the government to underwrite bad
relationship decisions.
Mr.. Lombard's method found a recent subject in Fabrice Vandervelpen, a
36-year-old manager at a frozen-vegetable packing plant in southern Belgium. In
September, he called in sick. His girlfriend of six months had just left him,
he says. A psychiatrist diagnosed him with depression and certified him for
medical leave.
[...]
Mr. Vandervelpen says he spent his first two weeks off writing poetry at his
parents' home, where he lives. His mother, Marie-Jane, often took him shopping
for new clothes, she says. He played soccer again with his local club, FC
Burdinne, and volunteered as club treasurer. He visited a Catholic shrine in
Banneux, Belgium, where the Virgin Mary is said to have appeared in 1933.
In November, Mr. Vandervelpen bought a bright red Alfa Romeo MiTo for $30,000.
Zipping through the hills and sugar-beet fields in his new car made him feel
better, he says. He visited his ex-girlfriend and went to parties...
If the law didn't mandate paid sick leave, he would have gone back to work
sooner, says Mr. Vandervelpen. Hesbaye Frost paid his full salary for the first
month he was off. After that, a government-backed insurance company picked up
80% of his salary, which the law guarantees indefinitely. "The government keeps
€1,000 [about $1,357] a month in taxes off me, so why shouldn't I get help when
I don't feel well?" he asks. He makes €2,500 before taxes.
According to the Journal, a number of Belgian government agencies "were
averaging 35 days of paid sick leave per employee each year, more than twice
the national rate and seven times the U.S. average," before authorities cracked
down on the cheats. And remember, Belgian workers are already the beneficiaries
of four weeks of statutory vacation. With a less generous welfare state,
perhaps the great Plastic Bertrand would find it necessary to start recording
again. In the meantime, we can only rewatch YouTube videos of the greatest song
to ever come out of Brussels, "Ça plane pour moi."
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