Calculate the employee’s sick pay

Sick pay is 80 per cent of the sick pay basis. The basis consists of the employee’s salary and other benefits. If your employee gets sick you should pay sick pay for the first 14 days if you deem that their illness means that they cannot work. You need to make a qualifying deduction from the sick pay. The deduction shall be 20 percent of the sick pay that your employee is expected to get in an average calendar week.

In order to calculate the average weekly working hours of an employee with flexible hours, you can use their percentage of full-time employment or work schedule. If there are no such data, you can base your calculation on the hours worked by the employee immediately prior to the sick pay period.

You must always make a full qualifying deduction, regardless of whether your employee is entitled to full or partial sick pay or not. If a full qualifying deduction cannot be made from the compensation for the first sick pay day, deductions shall continue to be made until a full deduction has been made. The deduction may never be bigger than the sick pay that would be paid for the sick pay period.

Remember that sick pay and qualifying deductions are regulated in greater detail by collective agreement. After day 14, the employee may apply for sickness benefit from the Swedish Social Insurance Agency (Försäkringskassan).

Compensation for employers with high sick pay costs

All Swedish employers enjoy protection against high sick pay costs. This protection means that as an employer, you can be compensated for annual sick pay costs that exceed a certain amount.

The purpose of the compensation is to encourage employers to be able to hire staff. This applies particularly to small or new employers where sickness absence can represent a financial risk.

Compensation for high sick pay costs and calculate your compensation at the Swedish Social Insurance Agency (in Swedish)

Occupational health and healthcare

Preventive healthcare is tax-free

The occupational health care deals with, among other things, medical examinations, ergonomics, work adaptation and rehabilitation investigations. Benefit from rehabilitation and preventive treatment is tax-free.

Occupational health care

Private healthcare is tax-free

If you pay for public healthcare for your employees, then this represents a taxable benefit. If the healthcare provision is private there is no need to pay any tax.

Healthcare at the Swedish Tax Agency (in Swedish)

Grant for work aids and workplace adaptation

In order for an employee to be able to continue to work or return to work after a prolonged period of illness, they may need work aids or workplace adaptation.

You can get a grant for work aids from the Swedish Social Insurance Agency (in Swedish)

Grant for preventive measures

Employers are eligible for a grant from the Swedish Social Insurance Agency for the purchase of investigative resources aimed at preventing illness and making it easier for employees to return to work after sick leave. The grant is paid directly to your company and covers half of the cost of the initiatives implemented, up to a maximum of SEK 7,000 per initiative.

More about grant for preventive measures and apply for workplace support at the Swedish Social Insurance Agency (in Swedish)