Swedish Social Insurance Agency and the rehabilitation chain

Day -90

The Swedish Social Insurance Agency will assess the entitlement to sickness benefit during the first 90 days and whether the person who is on sick leave cannot perform their regular work or other work for the employer.

Days 91-180

From day 91, the Swedish Social Insurance Agency will conduct an assessment of the entitlement to sickness benefit in relation to whether the co-worker can perform any other work for the employer. If a return to work with the employer is not possible, the Swedish Social Insurance Agency will assess the work capacity of the co-worker in relation to all existing jobs in the labour market. If the Swedish Social Insurance Agency assesses that the co-worker can manage other work within the whole labour market, sickness benefit will not be granted.

Days 181-364

From 181 in the period of sick leave, the Swedish Social Insurance Agency will conduct an assessment of whether the co-worker can carry out any other work within the whole labour market. If the Swedish Social Insurance Agency assesses that the insured person can manage other work in the labour market, sickness benefit will not be granted.  

Day 365- continued sickness benefit

From day 365, the Swedish Social Insurance Agency will conduct an assessment of the capacity of the co-worker to work in relation to all existing jobs in the labour market. Exceptions can be made if it is unreasonable to assess the capacity of the co-worker to work against the entire labour market. From day 365, the co-worker can apply for sickness benefit at the continuation level or at the normal level if there is a very serious state of health or illness.

Exceptions to the time limits in the rehabilitation chain

The time limits in the rehabilitation chain may be waived if the Swedish Social Insurance Agency assesses that there is a high probability that a person will be able to return to work with their employer within one year from the first day of the sick leave or if it can be considered unreasonable to assess the capacity to work of a person in relation to jobs in the ordinary labour market. The capacity to work will therefore be assessed in relation to work with the employer even after day 180.

It should be clear from the plan for return to work that the co-worker will be able to return to work with their current employer following further medical treatment or rehabilitation.

If sickness benefit is not granted

If the Swedish Social Insurance Agency does not grant continued sickness benefit and the co-worker cannot return to any work at KI, the co-worker can request a reconsideration of the decision of the Swedish Social Insurance Agency. At this point, the co-worker may be eligible for a career readjustment meeting with the Swedish Social Insurance Agency and the Swedish Public Employment Service.

The responsibility for the rehabilitation of the co-worker remains with the department/equivalent throughout the entire period of employment until the employer has reached a solution.

The co-worker can contact the Swedish Public Employment Service and register as a job seeker the first day of unemployment in order to apply for unemployment benefit from the unemployment benefit insurance fund (a-kassan).

Contributions via the Swedish Social Insurance Agency

Work training

Work training means that the co-worker can train their capacity to work, usually 25% in order to be able to return to work at a low work scope. Work training can only be carried out if you have applied for and been granted work training by the Swedish Social Insurance Agency. The co-worker may be granted rehabilitation benefit during work training.

Allowance for Assistive devices

The employer or the co-worker can apply for an allowance for assistive devices from the Swedish Social Insurance Agency. The allowance applies to a co-worker who has an illness or a disability and needs special assistive devices to be able to work.  An allowance may also be granted in order to conduct an expert assessment to find out what kind of assistive devices the co-worker needs.   

Special high-risk protection

Special high-risk protection applies to co-workers who have an illness or a disability where it is likely that they will have repeated periods of sick leave or a long consistent period of sick leave. Special high-risk protection can be granted if a co-worker is ill more than ten times in one year or more than 28 consecutive days due to the illness or disability. It is the co-worker who applies for special high-risk protection at the Swedish Social Insurance Agency. The employer can subsequently apply for reimbursement of the entire cost of sick pay from the Swedish Social Insurance Agency. If special high-risk protection is granted, a co-worker who has frequent periods of sick leave may also have the qualifying periods waived.