Almost one in two employees took time off work because of ill health last year and work-related illnesses were a major cause, the national statistics office CBS said on Monday.

In total, work related illnesses or injuries accounted for almost a quarter of all absenteeism, the CBS said. The hotel and catering industry, education and construction had the biggest proportion of work-related absenteeism.

Earlier this year, the CBS reported that the Dutch absenteeism rate had dropped to a record low 3.7%. That means for every 1,000 people with a job, 38 are home ill.

The CBS says this is partly due to people’s fear of losing their jobs. In addition, freelancers and people on zero hour contracts do not feature in absenteeism figures.