Annual leave and the right to benefits and their amount

During the holiday leave, the employee is entitled to remuneration in the same amount as if he had performed work. However, is it included in the basis for calculating Illness Benefit? How does leave affect entitlement to benefits? We answer below.

Determining the basis for the calculation of remuneration and sickness allowance

Pursuant to the law on benefits, Art. 36 sec. 1 and 2, the basis for the calculation of sickness remuneration and the allowance shall be determined taking into account the remuneration achieved by the employee for the 12 months preceding the period of incapacity for work. In a situation where an employee works for less than 12 months, the basis for the calculation is the period of full calendar months of employment. This remuneration is the income that is used to calculate sickness insurance contributions after deducting social insurance contributions financed by the employee (13.71%).

Which components are included in the allowance calculation basis?

Not all salary components will be included in the basis for calculating sick pay. To be included in it, two conditions must be met:

1. they have paid the sickness insurance contribution and

2. are not entitled for the period of incapacity for work.

This means that, for example, sick pay is not affected by:

• business trip allowances,

• lump sum for commuting,

• Equivalent for washing and using workwear.

Remuneration for annual leave on the basis of determining sickness benefit

There is no doubt that the holiday pay counts in the same way as the remuneration for work in the calculation basis for sickness benefits. In a situation where a given employee worked part of the month and the other part was on vacation, the basis for the calculation is the sum of both wages and salaries.

The employee may receive additional income from the Company Social Benefits Fund. These types of bonuses are non-contributory and are therefore not included in the allowance calculation basis. In the case of co-financing the employee's holiday from the company's current assets, this amount, despite contributing to the contribution, will not increase the basis for the calculation of sickness benefits.

Does annual leave affect entitlement to benefits in any way?

The right to benefits is not dependent on annual leave. The general rule is that if the employee worked for justifiable reasons for less than half of the working time, then such a month should be omitted from the calculations. However, the supplemented amount of remuneration is accepted when at least half of the working time has been worked. Due to the fact that the annual leave is treated on a par with the performance of official duties, this principle does not apply here. So even if the vacation lasts a whole month, this month is used to calculate the sickness base.

Important! In the event of unexcused absences, the salary is not replenished!

The fixed elements of the remuneration are supplemented, i.e. the base salary or the hourly rate specified in the contract. In the case of variable remuneration, its supplementation looks a bit different, namely:

• first, divide the employee's remuneration by the number of days worked and multiply the result by the number of days on which the employee was obliged to work in a given month,

• take the amount of the variable components in the average monthly amount paid for the month in which the right to unemployment benefit arose.