SICK LEAVE. A sick leave automatically leads to a loss of salary for the employee. But how much is that drop over time? Explanations.
This is one of the hot topics for the start of the 2023 school year: sick leave. The new Minister of Health, Aurélien Rousseau, has made this issue his hobbyhorse since his arrival rue de Ségur. In 2022, the stops have indeed increased by 7.9%, which is “unsustainable” for the former director and deputy director of the cabinet of several Prime Ministers (Valls, Cazeneuve, Borne). So how do you stop the momentum? François Braun’s successor intends to increase controls in order to limit abuse, social security spending on benefits during sick leave amounting to around 14 billion euros in 2022. Nevertheless, the minister does not want a “less good reimbursement” to stem the increase, even if “it’s one of the tracks on the table.” What remuneration do we get today by being on sick leave? Explanations.
This is the main question for those who are on sick leave. During this period, money is well received by the employee, if he meets several conditions (read below). The person on leave may be remunerated by social security and by his company, in accordance with the procedures governed by law.
First of all, there is the social security which pays allowances. These are calculated using a fairly simple formula, taking into account wages earned in the last quarter:
Daily allowances correspond to the amount received each day (Saturday and Sunday included) by the employee on sick leave during his absence, for a limited period (read below).
However, a maximum daily allowance is set by law: €51.70 gross. This corresponds to a maximum gross salary equivalent to 1.8 times the Smic, or €3,144.96 gross per month. No higher amount can be paid by social security.
The employee’s company also pays benefits in the event of sick leave. This requires:
If all of these conditions are met, the company pays its employee, in addition to social security, for two to six months depending on his seniority.
In addition, the amount of the compensation varies over time according to the following rule: a limited number of days during which the amount is equivalent to 90% of the difference between the salary usually received and the compensation paid by social security; then a number of limit days during which they are equivalent to 66.66%:
Example on the basis of 2000€ gross per month for an employee with a little more than one year of seniority:
For this simulation of the remuneration received during a sick leave, let’s take the average duration of a sick leave in 2022 -22 days- and a gross monthly salary of €2,000, assuming that the employee has more than one year of seniority in his company.
*There is no waiting day in the case of sick leave related to a long-term illness (ALD).
Social security pays daily allowances for a maximum of 360 days every three years. Beyond these quotas, and apart from a long-term condition, the work stoppage will not be compensated. The counters will only be reset three years after the first day of the first sick leave.
On the side of the company, the latter only pays compensation between 60 and 180 days (see list above). The counters are reset to zero one year after the first sick leave.
In the event of long-term illness (ALD), social security benefits are paid for a maximum of three years.
In order to benefit from compensation during sick leave, you must provide proof of activity with social security. The conditions to be met are not quite the same, depending on the duration of the stoppage (less than or more than six months). However, they apply similarly for part-time or full-time work. Thus, to be compensated during a stoppage of less than six months, you must:
For a stoppage of more than six months, you must:
A sick leave is considered long-term when it exceeds six consecutive months. At this time, the doctor must note a real long-term condition (ALD). This suspension can last up to three consecutive years. In this case, the daily allowances are paid throughout the period by the health insurance. Beyond these three years, nothing more is paid. To obtain new allowances, it is necessary, for that, to make an application for invalidity.
