Background information

Currently, the first three days of sick leave are not compensated to employees. The days 4-8 are paid by the employer, and as of day 9 by the Estonian Health Insurance Fund (EHIF). Due to the COVID-19 outbreak, people are especially advised to stay on sick leave when any sickness symptoms should occur, some people were forced to stay in quarantine. The loss of wage and no sickness benefit for the first three days make the situation very difficult for some people. For this, it was necessary to approve the supplementary state budget by the Parliament, which was done on 15 April 2020.

Content of measure

The usual practice is that the first three days of sick leave are not compensated to employees. When the supplementary state budget is approved, the EHIF will compensate those days to all employees irrespective of the reason of the sick leave (i.e. in addition to corona virus, the person can have other disease or injury in order to receive compensation). As usual, the days 4-8 will be compensated by the employer, and then continued by the EHIF. The measure will be valid retroactively as of 13 March (the beginning of the emergency situation) until the end of the emergency situation currently set to 1 May). Those, who have used sick leave and whose first three days were not compensated, receive the compensation retroactively.

Due to an emergency situation an additional measure was introduced, which allows worker temporarily to apply on-line for a sick leave by his- or herself. The case may be opened by a person who is ill, has a child who is ill, needs care for a close family member, or has been exposed to COVID-19.

Use of measure

No information available about the estimated number of employees using the measure. It is planned to allocate €7.1 million for this measure.

Target groups

Workers	Businesses	Citizens
Employees in standard employment	Does not apply to businesses	Does not apply to citizens

Actors and funding

Actors	Funding
National government Social insurance	National funds

Social partners

Social partners' role in designing the measure and form of involvement:

	Trade unions	Employers' organisations
Role	Consulted	Consulted
Form	Direct consultation outside a formal body	Direct consultation outside a formal body

Social partners' role in the implementation, monitoring and assessment phase:

• No involvement
• Main level of involvement: Unknown

Involvement

There were discussions with the government and stakeholders (including peak-level social partners) prior to the decision and thus the involvement was satisfactory for all the parties.

Views and reactions

The social partners were supportive of the measure, as it helped the employees during difficult circumstances and encouraged them to stay on sick leave and not to spread illness.

Sources

• 27 March 2020: Haigekassa hakkab eriolukorras tasuma esimeste haiguspäevade eest (www.haigekassa.ee)