Factsheet for measure
SK-2020-14/290
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Updated
– measures in Slovakia
Employers' dispensation to pay a compensation for sick leave
Odpustenie platby náhrady mzdy chorým zamestnancom
Background information
In connection with the deterioration of the situation of employers during the COVID-19 pandemic, the government and subsequently the parliament decided to abolish the obligation of employers to pay a wage compensation benefit to an employee during the first ten days of his incapacity for work. The employee will thus receive a sickness benefit from the Social Insurance Agency from the first day of his incapacity for work. This change was implemented by Act no. 63/2020 Coll, amending Act no. 461/2003 Coll on social insurance and Act no. 311/2001 Coll Labour Code. Since 1 December 2021, the Measure is not available.
Content of measure
According to the local legal framework, in normal conditions the employee receives, during the first 10 days of incapacity to work, an income compensation directly from the employer. Only after 10 days, the employee receive a sickness benefit from the Social Insurance Agency.
Self-employed insured persons are, then, entitled to a sick benefit for the first three days of 25% and subsequently in the amount of 55% of the assessment base.
On the basis of the new COVID-19 related measure, the employer will not pay wage compensation in the case of employee's illness or if it is quarantined in reason of the epidemic, during the first 10 days of sick leave. Indeed, it will be paid by the Social Insurance Agency.
Self-employed as well receives full sickness benefit from the Social Insurance Agency from the first day of sick leave (i.e. not 25% during the first three days).
This measure is proposed in an effort to relieve the undertakings in times of crisis of costs related to temporary incapacity for work, as well as to increase the income of insured persons in cases of ordered quarantine measures and isolation.
Updates
The following updates to this measure have been made after it came into effect.
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01 December 2021
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The pandemic sickness benefit ceased on 1 December 2021.
Subsequently, employers resumed the payment of compensatory income during the employee's illness during the first 10 calendar days of illness
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Use of measure
As far as the costs of the Social Insurance Agency are concerned, they are estimated that 100,000 sickness benefits will be paid out in 2020. Beyond the current legal status, the sickness benefits will be paid to the persons concerned from the Social Insurance Agency for ten calendar days. The average assessment base of the person concerned is assumed to be at the level of the average wage of 2019, i.e. €1,092, as sickness benefits are basically based on the previous year's income. Expenditure on the basis of these assumptions is expected to be around €19.4 million in 2020.
The employers concerned are expected to achieve savings on compensation for temporary incapacity for work of about €169.4 on average per employee in quarantine measures, which is around €16.9 million for the entire business sector (about 100,000 employees). Exact data on the total savings of employers are not available, because the Social Insurance Agency does not record data on the paid wage compensation or its amount (these data are not relevant for the performance of social insurance). From the beginning of the pandemic in the period from 1 April 2020 to 31 October 2021, the Social Insurance Agency paid a total of more than 3,230,000 sickness benefits, of which more than 860,000 were pandemic sickness benefits. This means that in these 860,000 cases, employers did not pay a "compensation for incapacity for work" benefit for the first ten days. According to the Social Insurance Agency, the average length of receiving an incapacity benefit in 2020 and in the first half of 2021 was approximately 44 days, and the average amount of sickness benefit per case was approximately €316 at that time. Then the total savings of employers for the first 10 days of employee illness for the monitoring period amounted to about €62 million in the benefit "compensation of income during incapacity for work" (it was at the expense of the Social Insurance Agency).
Target groups
Actors and funding
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Actors
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Funding
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National government
Company / Companies
Social insurance
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National funds
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Social partners
Social partners' role in
designing the measure
and form of involvement:
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Trade unions
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Employers' organisations
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Role
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No involvement
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No involvement
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Form
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Not applicable
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Not applicable
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Social partners' role in the
implementation, monitoring and assessment phase:
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No involvement
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Main level of involvement: Unknown
Involvement
Social partners were not involved in preparation of the measure, neither via the usual tripartite consultations, nor in the cross-sector commenting procedure.
Views and reactions
Not available.
Sources
