Sick leave

If the employee has been employed for at least a month, he or she has the right under the Employment Contracts Act to full pay for the period of disability up to the end of the ninth day following the day of falling ill. In employment that has lasted under a month, the employee has the right to 50% of his or her salary. Collective bargaining agreements often obligate employers to pay sick pay for longer periods than this. If as an employer you have paid your employee sick pay for longer than 1+9 days because of a collective bargaining agreement, you have the right to collect the sickness allowance entitled to your employee for the extra days.

An employee does not have the right to sick pay if he or she has caused his or her incapacity to work intentionally or through gross negligence. When you as an employer ask your employee for a reliable explanation of work incapacity, the employee must be able to present one. This could be a doctor’s note containing an ICD code.