Sick pay: employer pays first nine days, then state agency takes over

A reader of the newspaper Latvijas Avīze, Ilze, who works as an administrator at a small company in rural Latvia, has described difficulties after being given a sick leave certificate. She is raising her daughter alone, takes home about 1,000 euros a month and has almost no savings. For the first time in her working life she had to take sick leave: after hand surgery, recovery could last up to two months. Ilze fears she will be paid only at the end of that period and asks why sick pay cannot be paid monthly, like unemployment benefit. To clarify, the newspaper turned to the State Social Insurance Agency (VSAA), which administers state social payments in Latvia.

Employer pays the first nine days

VSAA explains that responsibility for general incapacity for work is split. For the first nine days of illness a doctor issues certificate A, and the employer pays sick pay for the working days the employee would have worked. The first day is unpaid, the second and third days are paid at no less than 75% of average earnings, and days four to nine at no less than 80%.

Sick pay is paid under the rules of the Labour Law, usually together with the next salary, on the pay date set by the company.

From day ten: VSAA sickness benefit

If the person has not recovered, certificate B is issued from the tenth day. For this period VSAA grants and pays a sickness benefit, which is a social insurance payment. An application is required, while the agency receives the certificate data from the E-health system. The application can be filled in only once the certificate has been closed.

In a prolonged illness, a person can ask the doctor to close the current certificate so it can be submitted to VSAA; if incapacity continues, the doctor issues a new one as a continuation. The first certificate B can be closed no sooner than after two weeks.

The application can be submitted on the Latvija.gov.lv portal, in person at a VSAA customer service centre, by post, or electronically with a secure electronic signature. The benefit is granted within 10 working days after VSAA receives all required documents.