Sick leave allowances for common illness

Amendment regarding sick leave allowances for temporary incapacity for work caused by common illnesses and accidents outside of work.

On July 25, 2025, Law no. 141/2025 on certain fiscal-budgetary measures was published in the Official Gazette.

The only measure included in this normative act with an impact on income from salaries and salary-related income is the one referring to the modification of the calculation method for sick leave allowances for temporary incapacity for work due to common illnesses or accidents outside of work (sick leave certificates issued with indemnity code 01). More specifically, the percentage applied to the calculation base provided by the Ordinance for determining these allowances is modified.

As a result, the following do not change:

• Social contributions and income tax related to income from salaries and salary-related income
• The calculation base of the sick leave allowance to which the percentage is applied, which differs depending on the duration of the sick leave as follows:

Question: If the certificate is issued for 15 days, what percentage applies?

Practical application

As the law provides: “the gross monthly amount of the allowance for temporary incapacity for work caused by common illnesses or accidents outside of work is determined in relation to each episode of illness” and not to each sick leave certificate. In other words, the period is counted from the onset of the illness and not from the date of issuance of the initial sick leave certificate or subsequent continuation certificates.

The implementing rules of GEO no. 158/2005 regarding leaves and health insurance benefits were amended accordingly.

We summarize below with an example how the provisions of art. 17 of GEO no. 158/2005 are applied

• We receive an (INITIAL) sick leave certificate for the period 28.08.2025 – 31.08.2025 (4 calendar days) with indemnity code 01, on 05.09.2025

• On 10.09.2025 we pay the salary of the employee in question
• Later we receive a new sick leave certificate (CONTINUATION) for the period 01.09.2025 – 14.09.2025 (14 calendar days), probably after the salary has already been paid (especially if it was issued at hospital discharge) and, in the worst-case scenario, we might receive it on 05.10.2025, after the D112 statement for August 2025 has already been submitted.
• The total duration of the illness episode is therefore 4 days (in August) plus 14 days (in September), i.e. 18 days. We thus calculate the sick leave allowance for the continuation certificate as follows:

• WE CORRECT, retroactively, the month of August, as follows:

  
  

  August
  Day	28	29	30	31
  	Thu	Fri	Sat	Sun
  Percentage from base	55 % 75 %	55 % 75 %
  Payer	Employer	Employer

• We pay (WITH DELAY) the salary difference to the employee and the difference in social contributions and income tax related to the sick leave allowance for August.

We thus calculate the sick leave allowance for the initial certificate:

Exceptions from these new calculation rules

• Sick leave allowances due to cardiovascular diseases (sick leave certificates with indemnity code 13), although they fall under the category of allowances for temporary incapacity for work, are calculated by applying a percentage of 75 % to the calculation base, regardless of the duration of the certificate/illness episode.
• For sick leave certificates issued with indemnity code 01 after 01.08.2025, in continuation of a certificate issued before this date, the 75 % rate continues to apply to the calculation base, regardless of the duration of the certificate/illness episode.