Partial sickness allowance
Changes in partial sickness allowance as from 1 January 2025
The formula used to calculate sickness and rehabilitation allowances will change. The changes also impact the partial sickness allowance. Learn more about the new calculation formula.
The minimum age to qualify for partial sickness allowance will also be raised. Learn more about the increase in the minimum age.
The purpose of the partial sickness allowance is to help persons who are unfit for work to remain in work and to return to full-time work.
Part-time work on partial sickness allowance is a voluntary arrangement that you and your employer must agree to. The part-time work must not put your health or recovery at risk. Your working hours must be reduced to 40–60 percent of normal full-time hours.
The arrangement on part-time work is made on the basis of an evaluation by an occupational health doctor or other doctor familiar with the circumstances at work. The part-time arrangement must last at least for an uninterrupted period of 12 working days. This includes Saturdays.
Example
A supervisor with an electrical installation company who occasionally performs manual installation work recently underwent an operation on his shoulder and is therefore partly unfit for work. He talks to his employer about working part time, and suggests that he could cut his schedule by 50% and concentrate on his supervisory duties. The occupational health doctor evaluates whether he is able to return to work while receiving partial sickness allowance without putting at risk his recovery from the operation.
Waiting period
The waiting period consists of the first day of illness and the following nine working days. The right to partial sickness allowance does not start until after the waiting period. However, it is possible to start working part-time already during the waiting period, and this does not count towards the waiting period. You can check the dates of the waiting period with this calculator (in Finnish).
Anyone insured under the Self-Employed Persons’ Pensions Act (YEL) or the Farmers’ Pensions Act (MYEL) can receive a daily allowance under either scheme, just as is the case with the regular sickness allowance.
The partial sickness allowance is available without having to complete a waiting period if it follows immediately upon the payment of regular sickness allowance or rehabilitation allowance. The waiting period is the first day of illness, if you are again unfit for work for a reason for which you already received sickness allowance or partial sickness allowance within the previous 30 days.
Maximum duration of payment
Partial sickness allowance can be paid for a maximum of 150 working days. All days of partial sickness allowance during the preceding two years count towards this maximum duration. The two-year period is calculated from the beginning of each partial sickness allowance period. The maximum duration of the payment can include days of partial sickness allowance due to different illnesses: the maximum duration of payment is not reset for a new illness.
After the maximum duration of payment has been reached, partial sickness allowance can be paid again only after the applicant has been fit for work for a consecutive period of at least one year. Persons returning to work after having been paid partial sickness allowance for the maximum duration of payment can, however, get an additional 50 days of partial sickness allowance once they have been in work for a consecutive period of at least 30 days.
You can get partial sickness allowance even if you have already been paid the regular sickness allowance for the maximum period of time.
If the part-time work is interrupted
If your part-time work is interrupted temporarily due to for instance annual holiday, illness or your child’s illness, the partial sickness allowance can be paid in the normal manner during the interruption. A prerequisite for this is that the agreement on part-time work remains valid during the interruption.
If the agreement on part-time work ends for the duration of the interruption and continues after the interruption, the payment of partial sickness allowance is ended for the duration of the interruption and continues again afterwards in accordance with the agreement on part-time work. The payment of partial sickness allowance can continue without any waiting period, if you have been incapable of work during the interruption. For the duration of the interruption, you can apply for sickness allowance. No waiting period is applied if you have been granted rehabilitation allowance for the duration of the interruption.
If you are fit for work during the time that the agreement on part-time work is not in force, a waiting period will be applied to the partial sickness allowance paid after the interruption as follows:
- 1 day, if the previous period of partial sickness allowance ended less than 30 days earlier
- 1+9 days, if the previous period of partial sickness allowance ended more than 30 days earlier.