Changes to sick leave from January 2025 – what do you need to know?

From 1 January 2025, key changes to the sick leave and sickness benefit system come into force! The new rules introduce greater control over L4, the electronicisation of proceedings and new rules for collecting benefits. If you are an employer or employee – check out what has changed!

New rules for issuing medical certificates – more medical examiners

Medical examiners issue decisions that form the basis of many benefits paid to employees from social security, and certify short-term or long-term incapacity to work.

The provisions on the issuance of decisions on the granting of benefits or on the payment of benefits, as well as on the control of sick leave and others concerning this matter are regulated in many legal acts. The legislator plans to unify a system of regulations that will make it easier for employees, employers, entrepreneurs and lawyers, as well as Social Insurance Institution and medical examiners.

The legislator also wants to modify the requirements for medical examiners, among other things to allow doctors who are undergoing specialised training in a specific field of medicine and who have been actively practising their profession for at least five years to be employed to issue first instance decisions. This is intended to help increase the number of medical examiners and speed up the process of issuing medical certificates and granting benefits.

No more abuse – more control over sick leave!

The employer as well as the Social Insurance Institution have the possibility to check the sick leave as to its veracity and to check the employee as to the correctness of his/her use of sick leave.

A patient-employee who performs gainful employment during incapacity for work or uses sick leave in a manner contrary to its purpose will lose the right to sickness benefit. They will also lose this right if the sick leave turns out to be false.

Until now, there has been no clear definition of ‘gainful employment “ and ”using sick leave in a manner incompatible with its purpose’. In this respect, the court case law was helpful , which indicated that a patient with the annotation ‘can walk ’ on his sick leave could carry out everyday activities, such as shopping, walking or going to the doctor for a check-up.

However, he or she could not undertake activities that raised doubts about his or her actual state of health. Such activities included:

• consuming alcohol,
• walking for hours in a shopping mall
• renovation work at home.

The legislator has amended the regulations to allow employees to engage in incidental and sporadic work activities while on leave, such as the possibility to attend a supervisory board meeting. The changes also aim to increase the number of sick leave checks carried out by the Social Insurance Institution.

Sick leave with one employer and work with another

Previous regulations prohibited an employee on sick leave from doing any work. The new regulations have introduced an exception – employees working for several employers may remain on sick leave with one employer and collect benefits while working for another employer, if their state of health allows them to do so.

This possibility applies to situations in which the illness prevents the performance of one type of work but allows for another professional activity.

As an example, the Minister for Family Affairs, Labour and Social Policy cited a surgeon with a broken arm who cannot operate and is on sick leave from hospital, but can give online lectures to medical students at a university.

Electronisation of proceedings – faster decisions and less paperwork

The new law has introduced full electronicisation of proceedings and medical records, which will result in faster decisions by medical examiners, as well as the process of appealing decisions and the process of granting sickness benefit and other benefits by the Social Insurance Institution.

Do you have questions about the new L4 regulations? Get in touch with an expert!

The new sick leave legislation has introduced significant changes for both employees and employers. Electronisation of proceedings, greater control of L4 by the Social Insurance Institution and new rules on working on sickleave are just some of the reforms that will affect the labour market.

Employers have gained financial relief as the Social Insurance Institution has taken over the payment of sick pay from the first day of incapacity. At the same time, the increased number of checks is expected to reduce abuse and ensure a more transparent benefits system.

For more detailed information on sick leave and its control, we encourage you to contact the specialists in the labour law department of our law firm at: [email protected].