Calculate your sickness benefit

How sick leave works

When you fall ill, compensation is paid in stages. If you're employed, your employer pays sick pay for the first 14 days — 80% of your salary, with a waiting-period deduction on the first day — and from day 15 Försäkringskassan takes over with sickness benefit. If you're self-employed or a job seeker, there's no sick-pay period. Försäkringskassan pays sickness benefit as soon as your waiting period is over.

Sickness benefit continues for as long as you can't work, but the level steps down after a year. There's no outer time limit — instead Försäkringskassan assesses your work capacity on an ongoing basis. Lotsa adapts the calculation to your situation, whether you're an employee, self-employed, a student or a job seeker.

What is SGI and how is it calculated?

SGI (income-based benefit) is Försäkringskassan's measure of your income. For employees it's calculated as monthly salary × 12, adjusted for things like shift pay or other variable income. It's the basis for both sickness benefit and parental leave benefit.

Sickness benefit at the standard level equals 77.6% of your SGI. It's not a flat 80% — Försäkringskassan first multiplies your SGI by a statutory factor of 0.97, then takes 80% of that (0.97 × 0.80 ≈ 77.6%).

SGI has a cap. In 2026 it's SEK 592,000 per year (10 × the price base amount of SEK 59,200). Even if you earn more, your sickness benefit is based on the cap.

Benefit levels and how long they last

Sickness benefit is paid at two levels. At the standard level you get 77.6% of your SGI for up to 364 days, at most SEK 1,259 per day (2026). After that, sickness benefit continues at the continuation level, 72.75% of your SGI and up to SEK 1,180 per day. There is no outer time limit — the continuation level is paid for as long as you can't work, and Försäkringskassan assesses your work capacity on an ongoing basis.

You can be on sick leave full-time or part-time, at 25, 50, 75 or 100%, and the compensation follows the degree. If your work capacity is instead permanently reduced, sickness compensation may apply — a separate benefit assessed on its own.

The waiting day

The first day of a sick period is a waiting day. For employees, a waiting-period deduction of 20% of an average sick week's pay is taken, the same regardless of which weekday you fall ill. If you fall ill again within five days it counts as the same sick period, and no new deduction is made.

If you're a sole trader, you choose your own waiting period: 1, 7, 14, 30, 60 or 90 days. A shorter waiting period means a higher sickness insurance fee but fewer unpaid days once you're ill. For chronic illness, special high-risk protection (särskilt högriskskydd) can remove the waiting-period deduction entirely.

Collective agreements and insurance

If you have a collective agreement, you often get more than Försäkringskassan's benefit. For the first 14 days, sick pay is 80% of your salary, but from day 15 an agreed supplement adds around 10% — through schemes like AGS, AGS-KL or ITP-sjukpension — bringing you closer to 90%. Which one applies depends on your employer.

Some of these payments you have to claim yourself from AFA Försäkring — your employer won't do it for you. You can claim retroactively, even for sick periods several years back. Lotsa shows which supplement applies to your agreement and how much it adds.

Gaps and protecting your SGI

Your SGI is built on you working. If you've had a gap before falling ill, it can be affected. Sick leave and parental leave protect your SGI, but unpaid leave or studying without studiemedel (CSN-funded student aid) can lower it.

If you're a job seeker, sickness benefit is capped at SEK 543 per day, and you need to be registered with Arbetsförmedlingen to keep your SGI. If you study with no prior work income, you have no SGI and no sickness benefit is paid.

Practical things to know

Sick pay and sickness benefit aren't the same. Sick pay (sjuklön) is the 80% your employer pays for the first 14 days. Sickness benefit (sjukpenning) is what Försäkringskassan pays from day 15. Lotsa includes both.

Doctor's certificate. You need a doctor's certificate from day 8 to your employer and from day 15 to Försäkringskassan. If you're a job seeker, you submit it directly to Försäkringskassan from day 8.

The rehabilitation chain. At day 90 it's assessed whether you can take on other tasks at your employer, and at day 180 against the whole labour market. The rehabilitation chain (rehabiliteringskedjan) governs how your work capacity is judged over time.

Tax. Sickness benefit and collective-agreement insurance are taxed as income. Försäkringskassan withholds 30% preliminary tax by default, but the final tax is settled at your annual declaration, so your actual net may differ slightly from what Lotsa shows.

How long it lasts. There is no outer time limit on sickness benefit, but Försäkringskassan keeps assessing that you still can't work, and you reapply for extended sickness benefit with each new doctor's certificate. If your work capacity is permanently reduced, sickness compensation may apply — a separate benefit.

Vacation and illness. If you fall ill during a booked vacation, you can report sick and get your vacation days back, since full pay during vacation is usually more than sickness benefit. But don't interrupt an ongoing sick leave to take vacation; it can be read as you having recovered.

How Lotsa helps you

• Gross and net compensation per month and per day

• Sick pay, sickness benefit and the continuation level, phase by phase

• How your compensation compares to your regular salary

• Waiting-period deduction, the waiting period and special high-risk protection

• Collective-agreement top-ups from AGS, AGS-KL and ITP per agreement

• Key dates: doctor's certificate, the rehabilitation chain and when the level steps down