Payroll
Calculate sick pay and register sick leave
Here’s how the qualifying-day deduction, sick deduction and sick pay are calculated, and how sick leave is registered.
For employees with the Complete employment type, sick pay is calculated and the pay codes are added automatically when the absence is registered in the calendar or on the payslip. For employees with the Simplified employment type, you’ll need to calculate and register the absence pay codes manually.
When an employee is off sick, the qualifying-day deduction, sick deduction and sick pay are calculated from the first day of the sick leave.
The qualifying-day deduction is made at the start of the sick leave. It’s the same amount regardless of when the employee becomes ill and is equal to 20% of one week’s sick pay. If the employee becomes ill again within five days, no new qualifying-day deduction is made. An employee can have no more than 10 qualifying-day deductions in any 12-month period.
To calculate the sick leave for the qualifying day, you need to know your employee's average hours worked per week.
For irregular working hours, use historical data to calculate the average weekly working hours. If there’s no historical data, you can use the planned number of working hours for the coming months.
The collective agreements determine how qualified sick deduction and sick pay are calculated. The example below is based on a standard calculation that can be found in most collective agreements.
For a salaried employee, you apply a qualifying sick deduction equal to 20% of the sick pay for an average working week.
The employer pays sick pay for the first 14 days. From the 15th day of sick leave, the employee instead receives compensation from Försäkringskassan, and a sick deduction is made for each calendar day.
To make sure your payroll tax report is correct, use these pay codes when you register absence.
| Deduction type | Calculation | Pay codes for Complete employee | Pay codes |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Qualifying sick day deduction per hour |
- 0,8 x (((Monthly salary + Average variable pay per month) x Agreement factor) / (52 x Weekly working hours)) |
3104 - Qualifying sick deduction, salaried employees |
Qualifying sick day |
|
Number of qualifying hours |
0.2 x Average weekly working hours |
3104 - Qualifying sick deduction, salaried employees |
Qualifying sick day |
|
Deduction, sick leave (day 1-14, 100%) |
- (Monthly salary x Agreement factor) / (52 x Weekly working hours) |
3107 - Sick deduction day 1-14, salaried employees |
Deduction, sick leave |
|
Sick pay (day 1-14, 80 %) |
0,8 x (((Monthly salary + Average variable pay per month) x Agreement factor) / (52 x Weekly working hours)) |
3157 - Sick pay day 1-14, 80% salaried employees |
Sick pay |
|
Sick pay (day 15-180, 100 %) |
- (Monthly salary x 12) / 365 |
3114 - Sick deduction day 15-90, salaried employees |
Deduction, sick leave |
| - Monthly salary | 3128 - Sick deduction per day 100% whole month day 15-90 | Deduction, sick leave | |
| - (Monthly salary x 12) / 365 | 3121 - Sick deduction per day 100% day 15-90, over 10 base amounts | Deduction, sick leave | |
| - Monthly salary | 3134 - Sick deduction 100% whole month day 15-90, over 10 base amounts | Deduction, sick leave | |
| - (Monthly salary x 12) / 365 | 3136 - Sick deduction per day 100% day 91-180, salaried employees | Deduction, sick leave | |
| - Monthly salary |
3140 - Sick deduction per day 100% whole month day 91-180 |
Deduction, sick leave | |
| Sick pay (day 15-90, 10%) | 0,1 x (Monthly salary x 12 / 365) |
3160 - Sick pay 10% day 15-90, salaried employees |
Sick pay |
| 0,1 x (10 x Price base amounts / 365 ) + 0,9 x (((Monthly salary x 12) - (10 x Price base amounts)) / 365) | 3161 - Sick pay 10% day 15-90, salaried employees over 10 base amounts | Sick pay | |
| Sick deduction after 180 days |
- (Monthly salary x 12) / 365 |
3146 - Sick deduction >180 calendar days, salaried employees |
Deduction, sick leave |
| - Monthly salary | 3152 - Sick deduction whole month >180 cal. days, salaried employees | Deduction, sick leave |
In this example the employee works 8 hours a day, 5 days a week. The employee's monthly salary is 28 000 kronor.
This is how you calculate if the employee has been sick for an entire week (rounded to whole SEK):
|
Qualifying sick day deduction per hour
|
- 0.8 x ([monthly salary x 12] / [52 x average weekly working hours]) = - 0,8 x ([28 000 x 12] / [52 x 40]) = - 0.8 x (336 000) / (2 080) = -129 SEK |
|
Number of qualifying hours |
0.2 x 40 = 8 hours |
|
Deduction, sick leave
|
- (Monthly salary x 12) / (52 x Average weekly working hours) = - (28 000 x 12) / (52 x 40) = - 336 000 / 2 080= -162 SEK |
|
Sick pay
|
0.8 x ([Monthly salary x 12] / [52 x Average weekly working hours]) = 0,8 x ([28 000 x 12] / [52 x 40]) = 0,8 x 336 000 / 2 080 = 129 kronor |
Here’s what the payslip could look like in this example, rounded to whole kronor:
|
|
Number of hours | Cost | Sum |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Monthly salary |
28 000 | ||
|
Qualifying sick day |
8 | -129 | -1 032 |
|
Deduction, sick leave |
40 | -162 | -6 480 |
|
Sick pay |
40 | 129 | 5 160 |
The employee sickens and leaves work after half a day and is still home sick the next day. In total, the employee is sick 4 + 8 hours, that is 12 hours. 12 hours.
Here’s what the payslip could look like in this example, rounded to whole kronor:
| Number of hours | Cost | Sum | |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Monthly salary |
28 000 | ||
|
Qualifying sick day |
8 | -129 | -1 032 |
|
Deduction, sick leave |
12 | -162 | -1 944 |
|
Sick pay |
12 | 129 | 1 548 |
The employee sickens and leaves work after half a day, but returns to work the following day. The employee is thus sick for 4 hours.
Here’s what the payslip could look like in this example, rounded to whole kronor:
| Number of hours | Cost | Sum | |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Monthly salary |
28 000 | ||
|
Qualifying sick day |
4 | -129 | -516 |
|
Deduction, sick leave |
4 | -162 | -648 |
|
Sick pay |
4 | 129 | 516 |
The qualifying sick day deduction may never be higher than the sick pay for the period of sickness, and should in such cases always be adjusted to the same amount as the sick pay.
The collective agreements determine how qualified sick deduction and sick pay are calculated. The example below is based on a standard calculation that can be found in most collective agreements.
For hourly paid employees, the qualifying sick deduction is 20% of the sick pay for an average working week.
After sick day 14, the employee gets compensation from Försäkringskassan. The deduction is still calculated hourly, just as it is during the first 14 days. For employees with the Simplified employment type, register the absence using the same pay code (Hourly wages) throughout the sick leave, even if it lasts longer than 14 days.
To make sure your payroll tax report is correct, use these pay codes when you register absence.
| Deduction type | Calculation | Pay codes for Complete employee | Pay codes |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Qualifying sick day deduction per hour |
- Hourly wages x 0.8 |
3168 - Qualifying sick deduction, hourly employees |
Qualifying sick day |
|
Number of qualifying hours |
0.2 x Average weekly working hours | 3168 - Qualifying sick deduction, hourly employees |
Qualifying sick day |
| Deduction sick leave * | Number of hours | 3171 - Sick short time day 1-14, hourly employees | Doesn't apply to Simplified employees |
|
Sick pay |
Hourly wages x 0.8 |
3159 - Sick pay day 1-14, hourly employees |
Sick pay |
Pay code 3171 is only used to calculate holiday accruing leave. It’s added automatically for employees with the Complete employment type.
For employees with the Simplified employment type, don’t use the Sick deduction pay code. The employee won’t receive hourly pay for the sick leave. You should therefore instead reduce the working hours by using the pay code Hourly wages to the actual hours worked.
If variable parts should be included when calculating sick pay and qualifying sick deduction, you add an average value per month corresponding to the variable parts here.
This amount isn’t included in the calculation for employees whose schedule doesn’t include average weekly hours.
The employee works 6 hours a day, 5 days per week, ie 30 working hours a week. The employee has an hourly wage of 200 kronor. In a month without sick leave, the employee would have worked 135 hours.
This is how you calculate if the employee has been sick for an entire week (30 hours):
|
Qualifying sick day deduction per hour |
200 x 0,8 = 160 kronor |
|
Number of qualifying hours |
0.2 x 30 = 6 hours |
|
Sick pay from day 1 |
200 x 0,8 = 160 kronor |
Here’s what the payslip could look like in this example, rounded to whole kronor:
| Number of hours | Cost | Sum | |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Hourly wages ( (for hours worked that month) |
105 | 200 | 21 000 |
|
Qualifying sick day |
6 | -160 | -960 |
|
Sick pay |
30 | 160 | 4 800 |
The employee sickens and leaves work after half a day and is still home sick the next day. In total, the employee is sick 3 + 6 hours, ie 9 hours.
Here’s what the payslip could look like in this example, rounded to whole kronor:
| Number of hours | Cost | Sum | |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Hourly wages ( (for hours worked that month) |
126 | 200 | 25 200 |
|
Qualifying sick day |
6 | -160 | -960 |
|
Sick pay |
9 | 160 | 1 440 |
The hourly wages are reduced by the same amount of hours that they receive sick pay for, making the deduction 200 x 9 = 1 800 kronor. The number of qualifying sick hours is calculated as 20% of the average weekly working hours.
The employee sickens and leaves work after half a day, but returns to work the following day. The employee is thus sick for 3 hours.
Here’s what the payslip could look like in this example, rounded to whole kronor:
| Number of hours | Cost | Sum | |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Hourly wages ( (for hours worked that month) |
132 | 200 | 26 400 |
|
Qualifying sick day |
3 | -160 | -480 |
|
Sick pay |
3 | 160 | 480 |
The hourly wages are reduced by the same amount of hours that they receive sick pay for, making the deduction 200 x 3 = 600 kronor.
The qualifying sick day deduction may never be higher than the sick pay for the period of sickness, and should in such cases always be adjusted to the same amount as the sick pay.
In the example the employee works irregularly and has worked on average 15 hours per week during the past three months. The employee's hourly wages is 200 kronor. Without sick leave, the employee would have worked 65 hours this month. The employee is sick instead of working the scheduled hours for Monday (2 hours), Wednesday (5 hours) and Friday (6 hours), ie 13 hours.
|
Qualifying sick day deduction per hour |
200 x 0,8 = 160 kronor |
|
Number of qualifying hours |
0,2 x 15 = 3 hours |
|
Sick pay from day 1
|
200 x 0,8 = 160 kronor |
Here’s what the payslip could look like in this example, rounded to whole kronor:
| Number of hours | Cost | Sum | |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Hourly wages ( (for hours worked that month) |
52 | 200 | 10 400 |
|
Qualifying sick day |
3 | -160 | -480 |
|
Sick pay |
13 | 160 | 2 080 |
The qualifying hours will in this case be 3 hours, despite the fact that the employee only was meant to work 2 hours the first day of sickness. This is because the number of qualifying hours is calculated as 20% of the average weekly working hours 3 months back in time. For the employee in our example, this was 15 hours.
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