The waiting day and the waiting-period deduction
The waiting period is the deduction taken at the start of a sick period before your benefit is paid in full. Since 2019 it's no longer a whole waiting day but a waiting-period deduction (karensavdrag) — a fixed amount that's the same regardless of which weekday you fall ill.
For employees the deduction comes out of your sick pay. If you're a sole trader you choose a waiting period instead, and if you're unemployed a single waiting day applies. This guide covers how the deduction is calculated and when it can disappear entirely.
How the deduction is calculated
The waiting-period deduction is 20% of an average sick week. Försäkringskassan and your employer work out what you'd normally receive in sick pay over a week and deduct 20% of it, whether you fall ill on a Monday or a Friday. The point of the 2019 rule is exactly that the deduction should be equal for everyone — before, someone who fell ill at the start of a long shift was hit harder. If you're only ill for part of a day the deduction can exceed what you earned that day, but it evens out across the sick period.
Falling ill again soon? The recurrence rule
If you fall ill again within five calendar days, the new period counts as a continuation of the previous one. The day count picks up where it left off, and no new deduction is taken if the previous period already had a full one. If you'd only had a partial deduction, the remainder is taken in the new period until a full deduction has been made. So short relapses aren't penalised with a fresh waiting period each time.
High-risk protection: when the waiting period disappears
If you're ill often, there's general high-risk protection: after ten waiting-period deductions in a rolling twelve months, no further deduction is taken — from the eleventh occasion, sick pay is paid from day one. For a chronic or long-term illness you can instead apply for special high-risk protection from Försäkringskassan, and then no deduction is taken at all. Sole traders who choose a 1- or 7-day waiting period get special high-risk protection automatically.
Frequently asked questions
It equals 20% of what you'd normally receive in sick pay over a week. On a monthly salary of around SEK 30,000 the deduction works out to a little over SEK 1,000, but the exact figure depends on your salary and working hours. The calculator factors the deduction into your estimate.
No. The deduction is a fixed amount (20% of a sick week), not a whole forfeited day. If you're on part-time sick leave or ill for only part of a day, the deduction is smaller. It's taken once per sick period, not every day.
If you fall ill again within five calendar days it counts as the same sick period. You get no new deduction if the previous one was full, and the sick-pay period continues counting from where it stopped rather than starting over.
Yes. General high-risk protection removes it after ten deductions in a year. For a chronic illness, special high-risk protection — which you apply for at Försäkringskassan — can remove the deduction entirely from the start.