Sickness Benefits in the EU: Making Sense of Diversity

9 Pages Posted: 6 May 2020

See all articles by Slavina Spasova

Slavina Spasova

Independent

Denis Bouget

affiliation not provided to SSRN

Chiara Belletti

affiliation not provided to SSRN

Bart Vanhercke

European Trade Union Institute (ETUI)

Date Written: May 5, 2020

Abstract

One of the hallmarks of the European Union (EU) Member States’ social protection systems, unlike that of other regions in the world, is the right to income protection in case of sickness. To differing extents, all EU countries provide three types of arrangements in case of sickness: a) sick leave; b) sick pay; and c) sickness benefits.

Sick leave is the right to be absent from work during sickness and to return to one’s job when recovered; sick pay is the continued, time-limited, payment of (part of) the worker’s salary by the employer during a period of sickness; and sickness benefits are provided by the social protection system and are paid as a fixed rate of previous earnings or as a flat-rate amount

Sick leave arrangements, and compensation in particular, is a sensitive topic on which the Member States have jealously defended their sovereign powers.

Keywords: cash sickness benefit ; workers' compensation ; sick leave ; comparison ; EU countries

Suggested Citation

Spasova, Slavina and Bouget, Denis and Belletti, Chiara and Vanhercke, Bart, Sickness Benefits in the EU: Making Sense of Diversity (May 5, 2020). ETUI Research Paper - Policy Brief 4/2020, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3593413 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3593413

Denis Bouget

affiliation not provided to SSRN ( email )

Chiara Belletti

affiliation not provided to SSRN

Bart Vanhercke

European Trade Union Institute (ETUI) ( email )

B-1210 Brussels
Belgium

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