Below you will find a list of the content on the page. Click on the links to read more.
Assessing entitlement to sick leave
Keep in contact
Contact your HR specialist/advisor – no later than day 20
Request a reference number – day 30
Return to work plan – no later than day 30
Measures in the Return to work plan
Follow-up
Support in planning
Documentation
Försäkringskassan
Toolbox, day 15–90
Assessing entitlement to sick leave
Starting from day 15 of a period of sick leave, Försäkringskassan pays compensation to your employee in the form of sickness benefit. The employee still needs to submit a medical certificate to you as manager, so that, amongst other things, you can assess their entitlement to sick leave. Note that, even if Försäkringskassan does not grant sickness benefit, the employee may still be entitled to be absent from work due to sickness.
Keep in contact
Continue to keep in contact with the employee through regular status checks as you have previously agreed upon. The focus should be on assessing when the employee is ready to start occupational rehabilitation. For more information, see contact call (guide). Remember to document each time you contact the employee, your assessments and your decisions. Feel free to use the notes template.
Contact your HR specialist/advisor – no later than day 20
Contact your HR specialist/advisor at the HR Office no later than day 20 of the employee's period of sickness. Then, at an early stage, you can receive help and support in handling the case.
Request a reference number – day 30
When the employee's sick leave period exceeds day 30, you as the manager must request a reference number from the Registrator (registration). The case is given a case name: Rehabiliteringsärende; sekretessbelagt (Rehabilitation case; classified). The case in the registration record follows Stockholm University's routines for handling cases with secrecy and shall not contain any documents. There must be a reference in the registration that the documents are stored in the rehabilitation case file at the department/equivalent. Update the registration if there is a change in where the documents are stored; for example, if the employee quits or changes workplace within Stockholm University. Read more in the Procedure for documentation of rehabilitation cases.
Return to work plan – no later than day 30
No later than on day 30 of the period of sick leave, you and your employee should together draw up a plan for returning to work, whether the sick leave is part time or full time. Use Stockholm University's Return to work plan template. If you and your employee will plan for part-time work, use also the list of work assignments, planning part-time work template.
If you assess that occupational rehabilitation measures are not relevant at this time, the Return to work plan should still be set up. Make a note in the plan that no measures have been taken, and explain why.
An employee's motivation to return to work is strongest at the beginning of their period of sick leave, so it is important to get started with active rehabilitation efforts within the first three months.
The Return to work plan is a living document and should be kept up to date by following up activities and making a new plan if you feel it is needed.
The Return to work plan may be requested by Försäkringskassan, but it is mainly there for you as manager and for your employee.
Measures in the Return to work plan
If there are no medical obstacles to commencing occupational rehabilitation, plans should be made for a return to either part-time or full-time work.
The employee should actively participate in this planning. Listen to your employee, ask him/her to describe his/her capacity for work, and make your own suggestions as to what can be done. If the employee does not participate in their rehabilitation or cuts it short, without acceptable reason, contact your HR specialist/advisor at the HR Office for further handling the case.
Take into consideration what the doctor writes in the medical certificate about the employee's limitations regarding their capacity for work and what you need to keep in mind regarding a return to work.
Consider, too, what is realistic for your operation. As an employer, we have a far-reaching rehabilitation responsibility. We are not, however, obligated to adapt the work if it:
- results in a worse work environment for other employees
- means expanding operations (new positions or work assignments being created that are not justified from an operational point of view)
- entails significant organisational difficulties, or if the adaptations are not financially justifiable.
Example measures
Measures that prepare the employee for a return to work
When an employee is on full-time sick leave, these measures can help strengthen and fortify their capacity for work.
This could, for example, involve encouraging physical activity, support for issues relating to substance abuse, support sessions at occupational health care, workplace visits, having lunch/coffee with colleagues, and work trial together with Försäkringskassan.
Adapting regular work
Before you begin making adjustments to an employee's regular work, you and your employee should list their work assignments and duties. Use the List of work assignments, planning part-time work template.
Adaptation measures may include:
- adjusting the number, content and variation of regular work assignments
- adapting work methods or organisation (e.g., working differently from previously, being included in a different team etc.).
Adjusted working hours (e.g., arriving later or finishing earlier)
Adjusting the location where work is carried out
You can agree that the employee can work from home part of the workweek for a limited period of time. Sometimes, it may instead be preferable from a rehabilitation point of view that the employee works from the office all days of the week.
Work training
During work training, an employee can gradually build up their capacity for work without any demands on performance. This may be suitable if the employee has been off sick full time for an extended period of time.
In some cases, an employee can train at work whilst receiving rehabilitation compensation from Försäkringskassan. In such cases, Försäkringskassan makes the decision and is responsible for planning and evaluating the work training.
Part-time work
The employee works part time on their regular or adjusted work assignments. For planning, use the List of work assignments, planning part-time work template and draw up a new Return to work plan.
Temporary relocation
Sometimes, there is reason to temporarily transfer an employee to another place of work within Stockholm University, such as for work training. In such cases, contact your HR specialist/advisor at the HR Office for further planning.
Mentor/support
As manager, you can assign one of the employee's colleagues to give extra support for a period of time in order to help the employee with various questions or to help them learn new procedures etc. As manager, you still retain your rehabilitation responsibility.
Adaptation of the workplace
These measures involve making physical changes in the work environment, such as acquiring assistive devices (see Försäkringskassan) or adapting the premises.
Work travel allowance
If sickness prevents the employee from getting to and from work by regular means, Försäkringskassan can exchange sickness benefit for work travel allowance. It is the employee who applies to Försäkringskassan for work travel allowance.
Follow-up
Continuous follow ups of the Return to work plan aim at evaluating measures that have been previously taken and, as needed, deciding on new measures. In that case, make a new Return to work plan containing updated information. The follow-up should take place during a meeting, but can sometimes also work over the telephone.
Throughout occupational rehabilitation, brief but regular status checks are an important instrument for succeeding with the measures that have been taken. A half-hour status check once a week (such as on Monday morning or Friday afternoon) is recommended. Physical meetings are preferable, but the status check can also be done over the phone or electronically (e.g., via Zoom). We do not recommend making status checks via email, since a dialogue is important for following up.
Support in planning
When planning measures to aid a return to work, you can get help from the following:
- Your HR specialist/advisor from the HR Office
The HR specialist/advisor can serve as a sounding board and can help with things such as work training in other parts of the organisation, transfers, counselling, and labour law issues etc. - Occupational health care
You can hire a case manager from occupational health care who will help coordinating the case and can provide good support when you plan various measures. Other help from occupational health care may be relevant, such as making assessments by occupational doctors, investigating ergonomics at the workplace, counselling, conflict management, crisis management etc.
Documentation
Remember to document all important events, assessments and decisions relating to the case. Please use the notes template found in the toolbox below.
Försäkringskassan
Compensation
Starting from day 15 of sick leave, Försäkringskassan makes decisions regarding compensation for the employee. Compensation takes the form of sickness benefit. On day 15, the payroll officer reports the first sick day to Försäkringskassan. The employee is personally responsible for managing their case with Försäkringskassan; that is, they apply for sickness benefit, submit medical certificates, and inform Försäkringskassan of their income. If Försäkringskassan would like to have the employee's income verified, the employee can contact the Payroll Section at the HR Office. Whilst the employee receives sickness benefit, we as the employer pay a sickness benefit supplement. The sickness benefit supplement no longer applies if Försäkringskassan decides to no longer grant sickness benefit.
Entitlement to sickness benefit
Försäkringskassan assesses entitlement to sickness benefit according to the to-called rehabilitation chain (in Swedish). Between days 15 and 90 of the period of sickness, the employee is entitled to sickness benefit if their capacity for work is reduced in relation to their regular work or other applicable work that the employer is able to offer temporarily.
In order to be able to assess a person's entitlement to sickness benefit, Försäkringskassan may need to contact the employer (via mail or by telephone) to investigate whether there is any possibility of temporarily offering the employee other work assignments, or whether it is possible to adapt the workplace or working conditions so that the employee can work in spite of the sickness. Försäkringskassan can also request your Return to work plan. If they do, send them a copy of the latest plan that you and your employee have agreed on.
If Försäkringskassan decides not to pay sickness benefit to the employee, contact your HR specialist/advisor at the HR Office for advice on how to proceed.
Reconciliation meeting
In line with its responsibility for coordination, Försäkringskassan may call you as manager and your employee to a reconciliation meeting. Other parties may also participate, such as the attending physician, the Swedish Public Employment Service, occupational health care, union representatives etc. The purpose of the reconciliation meeting is to clarify what work assignments the employee is able to perform in spite of their sickness, and to determine what measures are needed for the employee to be able to return to work. Försäkringskassan leads and documents the reconciliation meeting.
See Försäkringskassan's website to read information they provide for employers regarding days 1–90.
Toolbox, day 15–90
Contact call, guide (137 Kb)
List of assignments, planning for part-time work (166 Kb)
Map for managers – occupational rehabilitation (picture) (199 Kb)
Notes template – rehabilitation (165 Kb)
Rehabilitation calendar – important dates (37 Kb)
Return to work plan (173 Kb)