18 § Employee’s illness

1.      Preconditions

The employer shall pay salary for the duration of an employee’s illness if

 ·   the employee is prevented from working in accordance with the contract of employment because of illness or accident and

·   the employee has not caused his or her incapacity for work intentionally or by gross negligence.

 2.      Duty to declare and medical certificate

The employee must inform the employer of his or her absence and, if possible, its duration without delay. If requested, the employee must present a medical certificate or other document accepted by the employer indicating his or her incapacity for work.

 If the employer designates the doctor, the employer shall be responsible for the costs of obtaining a medical certificate.

 3.      Salary payment

Salary shall be paid as follows in connection with each case of incapacity for work when the period of employment has lasted:

 ·      under three years, for four weeks

·      three years but under five years, for five weeks

·      five years but under 10 years, for six weeks

·      at least 10 years, for eight weeks

 If the employment has lasted less than one month, the employer’s obligation to pay salary for periods of illness shall be determined by the Employment Contracts Act.

 If an employee succumbs to the same illness within 30 days of returning to work, the salary for the period of illness is determined in the following way:

 ·   The absences are added together and treated as a single period of illness with respect to salary payment

·   However, salary is paid for the waiting period stipulated by the Sickness Insurance Act – i.e., the first day of illness, provided it is a working day.

 4.      The employer can pay salary for periods of illness either

 ·      such that the full salary will be paid for the waiting period specified in the Sickness Insurance Act, and the difference between daily wages and the daily allowance paid on the basis of the Sickness Insurance Act will be paid for any subsequent working days, or

·      such that the employer pays the salary to the employee and files an application for health insurance compensation to be paid to the employer.

 5.      If the daily allowance referred to in the Sickness Insurance Act, for a reason attributable to the employee, is not paid or if the amount paid is less than the statutory amount, the employer's obligation to pay salary will be decreased by the amount that was not paid.

 6.      Any daily allowance or comparable compensation received for the same incapacity for work and the same period of time on the basis of legislation, on the basis of an insurance policy partially or fully paid for by the employer, or from a sickness insurance fund receiving the employer’s contributions shall be deducted from the salary paid for the period of illness.