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Sickness

Changes regarding compensation-free days

On 1 January 2019, new rules came into force in the Sick Pay Act. The rules, which are mandatory, mean that the compensation-free day at the start of a sick leave period was abolished and replaced by a qualifying-period salary deduction corresponding to 20 per cent of an average week’s sick pay. 

The purpose of the change is to make the amount deductible for sick leave fairer, especially for those who have irregular working hours. For employees who work normal office hours, the new model will not mean any real change compared with today’s system.

As a result of the new legislation, Saco-S and the Swedish Agency for Government Employers have made adjustments to our collective agreements regarding the calculation of sick pay, i.e. the employee's compensation from the employer during the first 14 days of a sickness period.

There may be special rules on sick pay and salary in local collective agreements. You can contact your Saco-S association to check if this is the case. However, there are normally no deviations for most of employees.

Updated rules in Villkorsavtal-T

Most members of Saco-S unions are covered by the Villkorsavtal-T general agreement on salaries and benefits. Under Chapter 7, Section 4a of Villkorsavtal-T, sick pay is payable from the first day of illness. The level of sick pay, before the qualifying period deduction, corresponds to 80 per cent of the loss of income due to sick leave. A qualifying period deduction is made from the calculated sick pay, corresponding to 3.68 per cent of the employee's current monthly salary for that month. This corresponds to 20 per cent of one week's sick pay. 

However, if the calculated sick pay is lower than the deductible amount as defined above, the salary deduction will never be greater than the calculated sick pay. This therefore applies instead of the old rules regarding the qualifying period deduction.

Example 1

An employee with a full time position evenly distributed over five working days per week who is covered by Villkorsavtal-T agreement and has a monthly salary of SEK 30 000 is off sick for three working days.
Salary deduction and calculation of sick pay deduction are made in three steps:

  1. For three working days’ absence, the salary deduction will be SEK 4 140,
    (30 000 x 4.6% x 3).
  2. The sick pay for three days will then be SEK 3 312, (80% of SEK 4 140 or SEK 1 104/day). Thus, the sick pay corresponds to 80% of the salary deduction due to sick leave and is paid from day 1.
  3. From this, a deduction of SEK 1 104 (30 000 x 3.68%) is made. The sick pay amount paid will then be SEK 2 208.

Example 2

An employee falls ill at lunchtime and goes home after four hours of work. The employee is then ill for another two full working days. (Same monthly salary etc. as in Example 1 above).

  1. The salary deduction will be SEK 3 450 for two and a half working days.
  2. The sick pay will be 80 per cent of the salary deduction, i.e. SEK 2 760
  3. From this a deduction of SEK 1 104 (30 000 x 3.68%) is made. The sick pay amount paid will then be SEK 1 656.

The example shows that, unlike when the compensation-free qualifying day rule was applicable, the qualifying period deduction applies regardless of how much of the first day of the sick leave period you are absent from work. 

Special provisions

For workers who fall ill again within five calendar days, no further salary deduction will be made if a full deduction has already been made. Employees who have had ten salary deductions for ten different periods of sick leave during the past twelve months will not be have any further deductions for additional periods of sick leave.

For employees who have a special high risk protection following a ruling by Försäkringskassan, Swedish Social Insurance Agency, there will continue to be exemptions from the above description of salary deductions.

New rules in Affärsverksavtal-T

In the Affärsverksavtal-T salaries and benefits agreement, salary deductions for absence are made in accordance with other principles than those in the terms of the Villkorsavtal-T agreement. This means that the provisions agreed by the central parties to the agreement look different in technical terms, but the outcome is the same, i.e. the qualifying period deduction will amount to the equivalent of 20 per cent of one week’s average sick pay.