Large businesses
Practical information
Self-employed
SMEs
Last updated more than 5 years ago
During the state of crisis, the 26-week period of protection against dismissal in the event of incapacity for work is suspended.
An employer must continue to pay his employee in case of sick leave due to illness or an occupational accident and must do so until the end of the month during which the 77th day of sick leave occurs, during a reference period of 18 successive months.
This is the principle of "continuation of pay" (or "Lohnfortzahlung").
As from the month following the 77th day of sick leave, the National Health Fund (Caisse Nationale de Santé - CNS) takes over from the employer and pays sickness benefits to the employee on sick leave. From this point on, the employer no longer has to pay a salary to the employee, for as long as the employee receives benefits from the CNS.
The following are involved in the continuation of pay whenever an employee is on sick leave:
When the continuation of pay for an employee on sick leave is applied, it is assumed that:
An employer must continue to pay the salaries of an employee on sick leave until the end of the month during which the 77th day of sick leave occurs.
The period of 77 days is counted in calendar days (and not in working days) during which the employee was declared on sick leave for the 18 calendar months prior to the month in progress (reference period).
In practice
In all 3 cases, the CNS will cover payments for any subsequent periods of sick leave from the first day of the following month.
An employer therefore has to pay the salary, depending on the case, for 11 to 15 weeks.
In case of intermittent sickness, the 77-day situation is to be verified each month.
Furthermore, in the case of a change of employer, the 77-day counter goes back to 0.
The CNS calculates the cumulative record of sick leave on the basis of monthly declarations submitted by the employer as well as the medical certificates received from the employee.
It informs the employer when he must terminate or continue the payment of salaries in the case of sick leave.
However, it is useful to keep a record of the number of sick days taken each month during the previous 18 months.
This record can be produced automatically by using the Excel file for automatic calculation of the continuation of pay period:
For example: the table below illustrates the participation of the employer or the CNS regarding salary payments in case an employee is on sick leave.
Each month, the "Total" column shows the number of days which are to be borne by the employer and which must be taken into account for the calculation of the continuation of pay period.
The continuation of pay by the employer only applies to certain types of sick leave:
Other types of sick leave are covered at 100 % by the CNS from the first day of sick leave:
All periods of sick leave due to illness, occupational illness or work-related accident are included in the 77 days of continuation of pay (Lohnfortzahlung - LFZ) calculation.
Type of sick leave
|
CCSS code (monthly declaration) |
Paying parties |
|
---|---|---|---|
Period of continuation of pay |
Period of payment by the CNS |
||
1 |
Employer ** |
CNS * |
|
1 |
Employer ** |
CNS * |
|
Sick leave during the first 3 months of the trial period |
1 |
Employer ** |
/ |
Leave for family reasons | 2 |
Employer * |
CNS * |
3 |
CNS * |
||
Leave for pregnant or breastfeeding women |
3 |
CNS * |
|
4 |
CNS * |
||
5 |
Employer * |
CNS * |
* Periods not accounted for in the 77 days of LFZ |
** Periods accounted for in the 77 days of LFZ |
The salary paid to the employee by the employer during the period of continuation of pay consists of:
Absences due to illness or accident are considered as being effective working days.
Expenses reimbursed to employees are not considered as part of the salary. They are therefore not paid during the illness.
The National Health Fund (Caisse Nationale de Santé - CNS) covers:
Compensatory benefits for cyclical and bad-weather related layoffs are also covered.
For apprentices, the calculation is based on the apprenticeship pay.
Sickness benefits are linked to the trend of the cost of living. They cannot be lower than the minimum social wage or higher than five times the amount of the minimum social wage.
The CNS does not cover:
The employer who maintains the working relationship with the employee after 26 weeks of sick leave must make up the sickness benefit received by the employee and pay him the difference between the benefit and his net pay during the first 12 months of sick leave.
The CNS may suspend payment of the benefit:
To get the refund of the remuneration paid to the employee, the employer must declare, separately and for each period of sick leave, the number of hours claimed during which the employee would have worked.
If the employee did not fulfill his obligation to declare his incapacity for work to the National Health Fund, the employer must send the original copy of the employee's medical certificate to the CCSS upon their request.
The mutual insurance scheme automatically reimburses the employer 80 % of the overall salary costs (gross pay + employer's contributions) paid during the period of continuation of pay in the case of sick leave due to illness or accident, or more precisely 80 % of the contribution base.
The mutual insurance scheme reimburses up to 100 % of sick leave payments:
On the basis of monthly declarations regarding periods of sick leave and gross payments, the Joint Social Security Centre (CCSS) automatically calculates the amounts to be reimbursed to the employer by the mutual insurance scheme and/or the CNS as well as the date on which the continuation of pay ends or recommences.
The amount to be reimbursed to the employer by the mutual insurance scheme is:
Any potential disputes must be brought before the board of directors of the mutual insurance scheme.
Self-employed workers are paid 80 % of the contribution base applicable at the time of the start of the sick leave. Any period of sick leave must be justified by a medical certificate.