As part of its drive to stop the nation slipping into bankruptcy, the French government is urging citizens to confront the country's work culture through a campaign aimed at curbing soaring worker absenteeism.

Prime Minister Francois Bayrou, the centrist politician leading the country's minority government since December, is pushing to "reconcile the French with work" after a staggering 40-percent rise in absenteeism during the past five years.

Authorities say the record absentee level, which is one of Europe's highest and about double that of the United Kingdom and the United States, is now costing France billions more than its neighbors.

Almost 6 percent of private-sector employees are off sick at any given time, with even higher numbers in the public sector, where more than 20 percent of the workforce is employed, according to a report in The Times newspaper on Tuesday.

Between 2014 and 2022, sick leave among public servants jumped by 79 percent, said Bayrou. Absences due to "psycho-social" conditions have surged since the pandemic, particularly among women, who now have higher absentee rates than men, he said.

In his budget speech last week, Bayrou called on the French people to face reality and accept that "the French do not work enough", pointing out that France lags behind neighboring countries in terms of the size of its workforce.

France spends more on social benefits than any other nation, "yet the French are increasingly dissatisfied with their public services and we are the most pessimistic country in the world", Bayrou noted while unveiling wider cost-cutting measures. The absences are believed to be costing the country as much as 80 billion euros ($93.8 billion) a year.

Bayrou wants stricter scrutiny from doctors who issue sick notes for illnesses without clear medical evidence, and he wants people who are off work to have to tell their employers the condition they are suffering from.

According to the prime minister, inspectors have determined that half the individuals on long-term medical leave of 18 months do not have sufficient justification for their absence.

Unions have condemned the government's tough approach to sick leave and claimed it puts the health of French workers at risk.

France's President Emmanuel Macron has assigned Bayrou the responsibility of drawing up a budget that will reduce France's soaring debt and deficit, even as it allocates billions more to defense in response to what Macron describes as renewed external threats.

Bayrou's austerity proposals, including scrapping two public holidays, have ignited a fierce backlash from both left-wing and right-wing opposition parties and are deplored by 60 percent of the public, according to opinion polls.

Parliament will vote on the contentious 2026 budget in the fall, but with no majority, Macron's centrists face an uphill battle to secure cross-party support and pass the measures. Failure would force Macron to call a third snap parliamentary election in two years.

jonathan@mail.chinadailyuk.com