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"Where the state pays for time off, people rest; where it doesn't, they open their laptops." That's how Professor Andreas Ditsche, CEO of iGaming.com, sums up a new study into sick days among remote workers, and it's hard to argue with him once you see the figures for Spain.

 

Just 5.4% of teleworkers here take proper sick leave and switch off completely when they're unwell. Only 10.5% request any kind of leave at all, while a striking 65.1% carry on working through it regardless. Of the four countries covered in the Censuswide survey of 4,000 remote workers, commissioned by iGaming.com, Spain comes out worst for actually stopping when ill.

 

You might wonder if Spaniards are simply healthier than everyone else. They're not. Fewer sick days doesn't mean fewer people getting sick, it just means fewer are admitting it.

 

A lot of that illness never leaves the bedroom. As many as 17.2% admit to working from bed while unwell, more than the number who take proper leave. Some are answering emails with a fever, treating it as business as usual, and none of that ever shows up in a spreadsheet. What it does lead to is slower work, longer recoveries and minor colds that turn into something worse.

 

Money seems to explain a lot of it. In Germany, where staff get six weeks of sick pay at full salary, only 42.1% work through illness, the lowest figure in the study. Spanish statutory sick pay, by contrast, covers nothing at all for the first three days, then rises to 60% of salary and eventually 75% after three weeks. Spaniards disconnect during illness about half as often as their German counterparts do.

 

It's worth saying this isn't really a remote working problem. Most people actually prefer it, with 57.3% saying they perform better from home and just 6.5% saying worse. The real issue is a culture where being constantly available counts as proof you're committed, and taking time off feels like something you need to justify.

 

Being watched doesn't help either. Spain has the highest rate of remote monitoring of the four countries, at 64.8%, against just 29.5% in Germany, and over a third believe being less visible has already cost them a promotion.

 

It's worth noting this comes against a backdrop of official absenteeism in Spain hitting record highs in late 2025, at 7.1% of agreed working hours. That figure only counts officially recorded sick leave. This new survey shows the other side, the work being quietly done by people who never report being ill at all.

 

 

Image: Utopix Pictures Pictures/Pexels