Work stoppages: Medef wants to penalize sick employees who do not get vaccinated against the flu

The French employers' association (Medef) wants to penalize unvaccinated employees. Among a hundred proposals to redress the health insurance system 's financial position, the employers' union is proposing to stop fully reimbursing workers who are sick with the flu and have not been vaccinated against the seasonal illness.

"Getting vaccinated against the flu contributes to public health; it's a collective effort to protect others. When a person has deliberately decided not to participate in this exercise, is it normal for their entire salary to be covered by health insurance and their employer?" asks Yves Laqueille, vice-president of Medef, given that the seasonal flu vaccination rate is low.

A proposal that caused a reaction from the Big Mouths this Thursday: "This isn't going to break the social security budget," says Barbara Lefebvre, while a flu patient is absent on average four days when on sick leave. "There must be penalties when you refuse to get treatment, but the flu is an epidemic, and you don't choose to get it when the vaccine isn't very effective," adds the middle and high school teacher.

"They're looking for money, so their idea is to go and scrape everywhere," rail unionist Burno Poncet said on RMC and RMC Story . "There's one issue, and that's suffering at work. Most of the people I hear from their doctor think that by going on Google, they know what's happening to their colleague," he adds.

"We spend too much money, health has become an all-you-can-eat buffet!", Olivier Truchot fumes. "We've become spoiled children when it comes to health, we stop because we have a stomach ache, a boil, that's part of France," he denounces.

Health insurance spending on daily benefits for employees on sick leave has doubled in 7 years, reaching 17 billion euros in 2024. To stop the haemorrhage, the health insurance has decided to reduce compensation for private sector employees by 20% .