Article 5 of Royal Decree-Law 6/2020, of 10 March, which introduce certain urgent measures in the economic context and for the protection of public health, established that periods of infections, confinement or restriction on leaving the municipality where the employee’s home or workplace is located as a result of the COVID-19 virus shall be consider as an exceptional situation assimilated to an accident at work.
In order to protect public health, periods of infections, confinement or contagion of employees caused by the COVID-19 virus shall be consider, exceptionally, as a situation assimilated to an accident at work, exclusively for the purposes of the Social Security system’s temporary incapacity benefit.
Unless it is prove that, the disease was contract exclusively through work under the terms set out in article 156 of the revised text of the General Social Security Act, approved by Royal Legislative Decree 8/2015, of 30 October, in which case, it will be classify as an accident at work.
Economic benefits
The payment of the economic benefit for TI in cases related to COVID-19 is pay by the entity that protects the professional contingency of the company’s employees, although health care and the control of reports is carry out by the Public Health Services.
As the economic regime is similar to that of professional contingencies, the employee will receive 75% of the professional contingency base of the previous month and will receive it without discount days, i.e. from the day after the sick leave until the date of discharge.
The 75% of the base is the minimum amount regulated by law, but there are some collective agreements that recognize the employee’s right to receive 100% of their contribution base. It is therefore necessary to check whether the collective agreement provides for this improvement at the company’s expense.
When sick leave due to COVID-19, because either the disease has been confirm or because of a compulsory quarantine, you must remain in isolation and cannot home office.
The full salary for the day of the sick leave will be pay by the employer, regardless of whether or not there was any actual work on the day of the sick leave.
From the following day onwards, the payment of temporary incapacity will be the responsibility of the entity that protects the professional contingency of the company’s employees (INSS, Mutual Insurance Company, etc.). For practical purposes, in most cases the company pays the employee for the days of sick leave in the payroll by means of a delegated payment.
Inmaculada Pessini
