What to do when you fall ill: sick leave (PN), ePN and sick pay

Who this guide is for

For employees in Slovakia with an employment contract who have fallen ill and want to know what happens with work and income.

What to prepare

• Your health insurance card or the document the doctor treats you on, and an identity document.
• Contact details for your manager or HR so you can report the illness on the first day.
• The IBAN Sociálna poisťovňa should pay the benefit to from the 15th day of illness.

What to do, step by step

1. 1See your family doctor, or the doctor treating you, on the first day you are ill. Only a doctor can put you on sick leave (dočasná pracovná neschopnosť, PN), and normally only from the day of the examination, not backdated.
2. 2Since 1 January 2025 every doctor issues sick leave electronically only (ePN). The data goes automatically to Sociálna poisťovňa and from there to your employer, so as a rule you print nothing, deliver nothing and file no claim. Paper remains in two cases: when the system is down for more than three days, and when you need a certificate for another country’s social security institution. And if an injury caused the incapacity, a separate injury report is filed even with ePN.
3. 3Electronic or not, tell your employer on the first day that you are ill: labour law requires it and so does ordinary courtesy. A call or message to your manager is enough; the internal rules often say how.
4. 4Know who pays. The first 14 days are paid by your employer (náhrada príjmu): 25% of the daily assessment base for days 1–3 and 55% for days 4–14; a collective agreement may raise these up to 80%. From day 15 Sociálna poisťovňa pays nemocenské at 55% of the daily base, for at most 52 weeks.
5. 5If the illness lasts beyond 14 days, tell Sociálna poisťovňa which account to pay to (through eSlužby or in writing); otherwise the money is sent by post to your home address. You can follow your sick leave and payments in the Elektronický účet poistenca, activated with one visit to a branch.
6. 6Follow the treatment regime: the doctor sets the address where you stay and the hours you may go out, and both your employer and Sociálna poisťovňa may check. Only the doctor closes the sick leave, so attend the follow-up on the set day: a missed check-up that is not rescheduled ends the ePN automatically.

Fees and deadlines

Days 1–3: 25% of the daily assessment base from your employer. Days 4–14: 55% from your employer. From day 15: nemocenské at 55% from Sociálna poisťovňa, for at most 52 weeks. The 14-day rule applies to sick leave that began on or after 1 January 2026; for earlier cases the employer paid 10 days.

Official sources

Open these links before submitting documents—the official authority defines the current rules.

• Ministerstvo práce, sociálnych vecí a rodiny Slovenskej republikyNáhrada príjmu pri pracovnej neschopnosti
• Sociálna poisťovňaePN – Občan – Poistenec
• Sociálna poisťovňaĎalšie informácie – nemocenské

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