Who pays for sick leave due to a workplace accident?

When an employee suffers a workplace accident that leads to medical leave, a very practical question comes up straight away for both the affected person and the company: who pays for the days that aren’t worked? The short answer is that the company advances the money, but it isn’t the one that ultimately bears the cost. Let’s look at it in detail, with the figures and timeframes in force in 2025, so that your SME knows exactly how to handle the situation.

Who pays for sick leave due to a workplace accident?

On leave resulting from a workplace accident, the company is the one that pays the employee’s salary during temporary incapacity. But it does so in the form of delegated payment (pago delegado): it advances the benefit through the payroll, and afterwards the collaborating mutua (or the Instituto Nacional de la Seguridad Social, depending on who covers the occupational contingencies) reimburses that amount.

In other words, the money comes out of the pocket of the mutua or the Social Security, but it reaches the employee through the payroll managed by their company. For the employee this is an advantage: they don’t have to claim anything from the mutua, they are paid directly in their usual payroll.

The obligation to maintain this delegated payment lasts for the first 365 days of leave. That period can be extended by a further 180 days (a total of 545 days, i.e. 18 months) when the medical tribunal considers that within that period the employee may be discharged as recovered. If temporary incapacity exceeds 18 months, the Social Security examines the employee’s condition and decides whether discharge is appropriate, whether an exceptional extension applies, or whether to open a permanent incapacity file, at which point the benefits start to be managed in a different way.

How much do you get paid on sick leave for a workplace accident?

This is one of the major differences compared with leave for ordinary illness (contingencia común). In a workplace accident, the benefit is more generous from day one:

The day of the accident is paid in full by the company, as if it were a day worked.
From the following day, the employee receives 75% of the regulatory base (base reguladora) corresponding to the month before the leave.

This percentage is the legal minimum, but many collective agreements improve the benefit and top up the payroll to reach 100% of the usual salary throughout the entire leave period or for a set number of days. That’s why you should always review the collective agreement applicable to your sector before calculating what the affected person will be paid.

An important detail for administration: when the employee is discharged after the leave, an adjustment may appear for the proration of the extra payments (pagas extraordinarias), since the regulatory base of the benefit already includes the proportional share of the extra payments.

Can an employee be dismissed while on leave for a workplace accident?

Being on medical leave is not, in itself, a valid ground for dismissal. Since the reform that repealed the former article 52.d) of the Estatuto de los Trabajadores (Workers’ Statute), you cannot dismiss someone solely for their justified absences arising from medical leave. In addition, Ley 15/2022 integral para la igualdad de trato (the comprehensive equal treatment act) reinforces the protection: a dismissal motivated exclusively by health status or illness may be considered null and void as discriminatory, with the obligation to reinstate the employee.

This doesn’t mean the employment relationship is untouchable during the leave. It is indeed possible to terminate the contract when there is a justified cause independent of the accident or illness: for example, a disciplinary dismissal for duly proven serious breaches, or objective grounds of an economic, technical, organisational or productive nature affecting the role. The contract also comes to an end naturally when its term expires, in the case of fixed-term contracts.

The key for the company is to always document and justify any decision with a cause unrelated to the leave situation, because otherwise the dismissal runs the risk of being declared unfair or even null and void.

Difference between a workplace accident and ordinary illness

It’s worth recalling why leave for a workplace accident is more favourable than leave for ordinary contingency:

Benefit percentage: on a workplace accident you’re paid 75% of the regulatory base from the second day; on ordinary illness you’re paid 60% between day 4 and day 20, and 75% from day 21 onwards.
Calculation base: for occupational contingency a regulatory base is used that is usually higher.
Who advances the payment: in both cases there is delegated payment, but on a workplace accident the party ultimately responsible is the workplace accident mutua or the Social Security for occupational contingencies.

That’s why it’s essential for the leave certificate to correctly identify the contingency: an accident wrongly processed as ordinary illness financially harms the employee.

How to manage leave properly in your SME

For a small business, keeping track of leave, certificates, absences and legal deadlines by hand is a constant source of errors. Having a clear record of each person’s working hours and their absences makes dealing with the mutua and the Social Security much easier, and avoids problems in the event of an inspection.

Good time-tracking software lets you automatically record working hours and absences, so documenting the exact day of the accident and the leave period becomes immediate. And if you also centralise medical certificates and employment documentation in a document management system, you’ll have everything you need available in an instant, without hunting through papers or emails.

In short: on leave for a workplace accident the employee is paid 75% of the regulatory base (or more, depending on the collective agreement) from day one, the company advances that amount through delegated payment, and it’s the mutua or the Social Security that actually bears the cost. Knowing these timeframes and percentages well saves you nasty surprises and helps you manage your workforce’s incidents with peace of mind.