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Sickness benefit

Sickness benefit is money you can receive if you are unable to work or take a job due to illness.

Temporary rules due to the corona virus

Some rules for compensations from Försäkringskassan have been temporarily amended due to the coronavirus. Therefore, please update yourself on the rules on this page:

Coronavirus - this applies

Am I eligible for sickness benefit?

You are eligible for sickness benefit if you:

  • are unable to work during your regular working hours due to illness
  • lose income
  • are insured in Sweden.

You can receive
25, 50, 75 or 100 percent sickness benefit.

How do I apply?

1. Report your sickness

If you are not participating in a Public Employment Service programme, you must report your sickness the first day you are sick. Report your sickness to your employer if you work part time.

Report your sickness (in Swedish) {"url":"/privatperson/sjuk/sjukanmalan","login":false,"text":"Report your sickness (in Swedish)"}

2. Apply

After reporting your sickness, log in to My pages (Mina sidor) to apply for sickness benefit.

{"url":"/privatperson/logga-in-pa-mina-sidor#?goto=%2Fprivatperson%2Fmina-sidor%2Falla-e-tjanster%2Fansok-om-sjukpenning","login":true,"text":"Apply for sickness benefit (in Swedish)"}

3. Send in a doctor's certificate

If you are sick for more than 7 days, you must send in a doctor's certificate with information about your illness or injury. In most counties, electronic certificates can be issued. You can then send in your certificate on Mina intyg on 1177 Vårdguiden. This speeds up the process and you then do not have to send the certificate by post.

Mina intyg, 1177 Vårdguiden (minaintyg.se) External link, opens in new window.

If you have received your doctor's certificate on paper and for some reason it has not been sent electronically to us, send the original to:

Försäkringskassans Inläsningscentral
839 88 Östersund

4. Disbursement

The first sickness benefit disbursement is not paid on a fixed date. It is instead paid once we have completed the processing work. If your application is complete, this takes no more than 30 days.

After the first disbursement, sickness benefit is paid on a specific date each month. Which date applies for you depends on when you were born:

  • If you were born between the 1st and the 10th: the 25th of each month
  • If you were born between the 11th and the 20th: the 26th of each month
  • If you were born between the 21st and the 31st: the 27th of each month

You can see all of your disbursements on My pages (Mina sidor).

Special disbursement dates

Special disbursement dates and processing times

If you want to change any aspect of your sick leave

 

Send in your new doctor’s certificate. You can do this digitally on Mina intyg on 1177 Vårdguiden.

Mina intyg, 1177 Vårdguiden (minaintyg.se) External link, opens in new window.

If you answered yes when asked whether a new doctor’s certificate should serve to extend the sick leave when you applied for sickness benefit, then you do not need to do anything else.

If you answered no, an application form for extended sickness benefit will be sent to your home. You cannot apply for extended sickness benefit via Mina sidor (My pages).

 

If you begin seeking work part time or in any other way change the scope of your sick leave, you must notify us of this. This is done most easily via My pages (Mina sidor).

{"url":"/privatperson/logga-in-pa-mina-sidor#?goto=%2Fprivatperson%2Fmina-sidor%2Falla-e-tjanster%2Fandra-omfattning-pa-sjukpenning","login":true,"text":"Change scope of sickness benefit (in Swedish)"}

 

If you recover before your sickness period has run out, report your recovery on My pages (Mina sidor).

{"url":"/privatperson/logga-in-pa-mina-sidor#?goto=%2Fprivatperson%2Fmina-sidor%2Falla-e-tjanster%2Favsluta-sjukpenning","login":true,"text":"End sickness benefit (in Swedish)"}

If you cannot use My pages (Mina sidor), call the Customer Centre at 0771‑524 524 or contact your personal administrative officer.

What happens if I am sick for a long time?

If you are sick for a long time, you will be assigned a personal administrative officer to help you with all aspects of the sickness benefit. The administrator officer will contact you after you have received your first disbursement.

 

Försäkringskassan and the Public Employment Service work in partnership to provide support to enable you to return to work if you have an illness or disability.

If you and your administrative officer decide that you may need occupational rehabilitation measures from the Public Employment Service, your administrative officer will schedule a meeting with an employment officer. At the meeting, we will all work to identify what measures you need to be able to return to work. Others, such as your employer or a healthcare professional, can also participate in the meeting.

Measures that may be offered include guidance in finding a job, job seeker activities or work training.

When can I get occupational rehabilitation measures

Your work capacity must be reduced due to sickness and there must be a need for occupational rehabilitation measures for you to be capable of working. Your administrative officer is responsible for making the assessment, but this is always done in dialogue with you and other relevant parties, like your doctor and employer.

What compensation can I receive?

If you are participating in occupational rehabilitation measures, such as work training, you can receive rehabilitation benefit instead of sickness benefit. As a minimum, the compensation is the same as your sickness benefit.

If you are initially unable to handle participation in a measure at a workplace, you can first receive guiding, investigating and supporting measures from the Public Employment Service. In such case, you can keep receiving sickness benefit while receiving support from the Public Employment Service.

 

If you have received sickness benefit for 364 days, you need to reapply to continue receiving sickness benefit. There are two levels that you can apply for; sickness benefit at continuation level or sickness benefit at normal level. The level is determined based on your illness according to criteria from the National Board of Health and Welfare. Please talk to your administrator if you have questions about the levels or how to apply.

Sickness benefit at the continuation level is approximately 75 percent of your sickness benefit qualifying income (SGI), while sickness benefit at the normal level corresponds to about 80 percent. You are entitled to sickness benefit at the normal level if you have a serious illness. What in this context counts as serious illness is described in the National Board of Health and Welfare's criteria for serious illness. The criteria can be found on the National Board of Health and Welfare's website.

Criteria for serious illness (www.socialstyrelsen.se) External link, opens in new window.

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