Sick leave pay in Spain (incapacidad temporal): file it right and get paid
If illness or an accident keeps you off work in Spain, the incapacidad temporal (IT) benefit replaces part of your salary while you recover. The amount and who pays it depend on details that are easy to get wrong — and a baja filed late or an alta médica accepted too soon can cost you weeks of pay. This guide shows you how to do it right, and what to do if you have to appeal.
What incapacidad temporal is
Incapacidad temporal (IT) is a benefit that replaces part of your wages while a doctor signs you off work because of illness or an accident. Depending on the coverage and regime, it is managed by the INSS or ISM, or by a collaborating mutua; an employer may pass the payment through payroll without being the body that decides the benefit. SEPE handles unemployment, such as the unemployment benefit based on contributions (paro) and the unemployment subsidy (subsidio), not the medical leave itself.
There are two main routes. A common contingency is an ordinary illness or non-work accident; a professional contingency is a work accident or occupational disease. The latter normally pays 75% from the day after the baja, while the employer owes the full wage for the day of the work accident.
IT lasts up to 365 days and, if no discharge is issued, enters a further 180-day extension up to day 545. At day 545 the IT subsidy legally ends, but its economic effects can continue while the INSS decides permanent incapacity; assessment may be delayed where recovery is still expected, without the combined period exceeding 730 days. That is a continuation of economic effects, not a new extension of IT.
Check what your sick leave should pay you
Tell NAVI your situation — type of baja, who covers it, your contribution base — and get a personalised action plan: the amount you should receive, who pays each stage, and the next step.
Who can claim it
You are an employee or a self-employed worker (autónomo) registered with Social Security, in alta or in a situation treated as alta.
A doctor from the public health service or your mutua has issued an official parte de baja — you cannot self-certify in Spain.
For a common illness: you have contributed at least 180 days within the last 5 years.
For a work or non-work accident, or an occupational disease: no minimum contribution period is required.
For autónomos, IT coverage is generally mandatory and contributions must be up to date. A contribution debt does not justify silently assuming a final refusal: where the invitación al pago mechanism applies, the notice and cure period matter.
NAVICheck if I qualify for the benefit and apply without mistakes
NAVI will check eligibility and documents.
Requirements to get paid
These are checked when your baja is opened. If one is missing, the benefit can be denied or suspended.
- Registered with Social Security (alta or asimilada al alta) on the day the baja starts.
- An official parte de baja from your médico de cabecera or the mutua — keep your copy.
- 180 days contributed in the last 5 years — only for a common illness. Accidents and occupational diseases need no minimum.
- You are genuinely unable to work and follow the prescribed treatment and medical reviews.
- You are not working at the same time — IT is incompatible with working.
How much you get and who pays
Common illness or non-work accident: nothing for days 1–3 (unless your convenio improves it), 60% of the base reguladora from day 4 to day 20, and 75% from day 21 onwards.
Work accident or occupational disease: 75% of the base reguladora from the day after the baja.
Who pays: for employees with a common illness or non-work accident, days 1–3 carry no statutory subsidy unless a convenio improves them; the employer is responsible for the subsidy from days 4–15, and the INSS or mutua from day 16, usually still passed through payroll as pago delegado. For a work accident, the employer pays the full wage for the accident day and the covered entity pays the benefit from the following day. Autónomos normally receive direct payment from the INSS or their mutua.
Documents you need
For most employees the payment runs automatically through payroll, but keep these ready in case you deal with the INSS or the mutua directly.
- DNI, NIE or valid residence card (TIE).
- Social Security affiliation number (número de afiliación).
- The parte de baja and any partes de confirmación from your doctor.
- Bank account details (IBAN) for the payment.
- For autónomos: the declaración de situación de actividad.
- In some direct-payment cases: a certificado de empresa with your recent contribution bases.
- A a digital certificate helps you track the baja and submit forms to the INSS online.
Deadlines — do not miss these
Real cases: what the mistake cost
He missed one mutua appointment — the payments stopped the next day. A worker on sick leave failed to attend the check-up the mutua had set for 2 October 2023: he forgot, and was ill himself around those days. The following day he emailed the mutua, admitted he had forgotten and offered to come at any time; that same day a health centre treated him for a viral infection. It made no difference — his temporary incapacity benefit was cut off from 3 October. The first-instance court in Bilbao held that ending the payments was lawful.
What was not obvious. Missing the appointment does not automatically become a final loss of the benefit. A precautionary suspension starts from the next day, but the law gives 10 working days from the examination date to justify the absence. If the reason is accepted, the suspension is lifted and payment is restored from the date it was stopped. In this case the worker reacted the very next day and backed his explanation with medical evidence — that combination of facts is what the High Court ultimately treated as sufficient.
What the mistake cost: nearly a year and a half without the benefit, and two rounds of litigation. Only on 25 March 2025 did the Basque Country TSJ overturn the first-instance ruling and order payment of everything withheld since 3 October 2023. A separate claim for €7,501 in damages was dismissed, and the judgment is not final — an appeal to the Supreme Court remains open.
The current rule is explicit: art. 9.4–7 RD 625/2014 provides for suspension from the next day and 10 working days to justify the absence; extinction follows only if sufficient justification is not provided in that period. Art. 174.1 LGSS ties extinction to an unjustified failure to attend. Acting immediately is useful, but the legal window is not measured in “hours”. The High Court judgment described here was not final and remained open to cassation.
Basque Country High Court, Social Chamber — court press release · 25.03.2025
The guide above sets out the ordinary appeal route. What to check is not the deadline itself, but who issued your discharge and how you covered a missed appointment, if there was one.
Check my situationCommon reasons people lose the payment
- An alta médica issued too soon: if you are sent back to work before you have recovered, you can challenge it — but the window is short. See appealing a medical discharge (alta médica).
- Fewer than 180 contributed days for a common illness.
- Not registered (no alta) with Social Security when the baja begins.
- Missing a medical review (tribunal médico / reconocimiento): not attending can suspend or end the payment.
- Working while on baja: the subsidy may be denied, cancelled or suspended, and a sanction may also follow; do not assume that an informal or short activity is harmless.
- Reaching 545 days: the IT subsidy ends, but economic effects continue until the permanent-incapacity decision. Where recovery is still expected, assessment can be delayed within the overall 730-day ceiling.
How to file it, step by step
1. Get the parte de baja. See your médico de cabecera (common illness) or the mutua (work accident). They issue the baja that starts everything.
2. Let the payment process continue. Employees normally receive it through payroll (pago delegado). Autónomos and direct-payment cases apply to the INSS or mutua with the documents above.
3. Keep your partes de confirmación. Attend reviews and follow the treatment so the benefit is not suspended.
4. If something goes wrong, act fast. If you got an alta médica too early, file your disagreement (disconformidad) within the legal window — see appealing a medical discharge (alta médica). If the benefit is denied or cut, you have 30 business days for a reclamación previa to the INSS before the social courts — see appealing a denied benefit.
Related guides
What people usually need right before or after a baja in Spain.
Check which benefits you can claim in Spain
If you are not sure whether paro, subsidio, the 52+ subsidy, IMV or another benefit fits you, answer NAVI’s questions. It will help identify the benefit that best fits your situation and show you what to do next.
Benefit denied and want to appeal?
If SEPE, the INSS or another authority has denied, suspended or reduced a benefit, you need to identify the reason for the decision, the applicable deadline and the evidence you need. Send us the decision: we will review it, check the applicable deadline and help determine what to do next.
Check the refusal for €9.90 →Frequently asked questions
Who pays my sick leave, the company or Social Security?
For a common illness or non-work accident, there is no statutory subsidy on days 1–3 unless a convenio improves it. The employer bears days 4–15; the INSS or mutua bears the benefit from day 16, although payroll often remains the payment channel (pago delegado). For a work accident, the employer pays the accident day in full and the covered entity pays the benefit from the next day. Autónomos are normally paid directly.
How much will I actually receive?
For a common illness: nothing for the first 3 days, 60% of your base reguladora from day 4 to 20, and 75% from day 21. For a work accident: 75% from the day after the baja. Your convenio may add a top-up.
Do I still have to hand the baja to my employer?
No. Since April 2023 the clinician gives you a copy; the public health service, mutua or collaborating company sends the report data to the INSS, and the INSS sends the employer only the relevant administrative identification data. Keep your copy and tell the employer you are on baja.
They discharged me but I am not better — what can I do?
You can challenge the alta médica, but the deadline is very short (often a few days). Act immediately and see our guide on appealing a medical discharge (alta médica).
How long can I stay on sick leave?
Up to 365 days plus a possible 180-day extension, for 545 days in total. At day 545 the IT subsidy ends, but its economic effects can continue while permanent incapacity is decided; a medically justified delay cannot take the combined period beyond 730 days.
Can I work or claim paro while on baja?
IT is generally incompatible with working. If your contract ends during IT, you continue on IT first. For a common contingency, the post-contract period is later deducted as consumed contributory unemployment time if you qualify; for a professional contingency, that IT period is not deducted. This common/professional distinction in LGSS art. 283 can be worth months of the unemployment benefit based on contributions (paro).
The INSS denied or cut my benefit. What now?
You have 30 business days to file a reclamación previa with the INSS, and then you can go to the social courts. Your appeal should address the specific grounds for refusal and, where relevant, challenge the benefit calculation — see appealing a denied benefit.
Sources and legal basis
Royal Legislative Decree 8/2015 (LGSS) — Arts. 169–176 on incapacidad temporal
Royal Legislative Decree 8/2015 (LGSS) — Art. 283 on IT when the employment contract ends
Royal Decree 53/1980 — 60% on days 4–20 (75% thereafter under the general rule)
Royal Decree 625/2014 — medical reports, reviews and absence procedure
INSS: Incapacidad temporal
Royal Decree 1060/2022 — telematic communication of partes de baja/alta
Informational only, not legal advice. Percentages and rules come from the LGSS; amounts depend on your contribution base. Confirm your case with the INSS, your mutua or your doctor.
Want everyday protection in Spain from bureaucracy?
Included: checks of Spanish documents, letters, requests and contracts before signing, Action Plans, consultation and sending your claims by burofax.
Prefer to handle it yourself?
You can also use the official channels directly, often at no cost: Banco de España for bank complaints, DGSFP for insurance, OMIC or consumer services for consumer claims and Defensor del Pueblo for problems with public administration. Or go through the claim with RightNOW: we prepare the text, evidence and action path, then accompany the case through to the result.
📩 Foreigners are the last to hear what affects them directly — laws, rules, new fees and opportunities.
We won't forget you. Leave your email — we'll explain it simply, in your language.
Checked by the RightNOW team · Change history
- Participation in the OVHcloud Startup Program was removed; the OVHcloud mark and the membership badge no longer appear. Versions: EN, ES, RU, FR, RO, PT, AR, UK, DE, NL, PL
- The programme logos in the shared site footer were restyled; the page text did not change. Versions: EN, ES, RU, FR, RO, PT, AR, UK, DE, NL, PL
- The AI Pact programme statement now records the signed Pillar II voluntary pledges and links to the European Commission signatories list. Versions: EN, ES, RU, FR, RO, PT, AR, UK, DE, NL, PL
- Participation in EU AI Pact Pillar I was added to the programme information. Versions: EN, ES, RU, FR, RO, PT, AR, UK, DE, NL, PL
- Participation in the Google for Startups Cloud Program and OVHcloud Startup Program was added. Versions: EN, ES, RU, FR, RO, PT, AR, UK, DE, NL, PL
- Programme and certification marks were added to the shared site footer. Versions: EN, ES, RU, FR, RO, PT, AR, UK, DE, NL, PL
- Fixed grammar and word choice in a few sentences; the meaning did not change. Versions: RU, UK, AR
- Real case reworked as a lesson: what was not obvious, how it ended, link to the decision.
- Legal basis, deadlines and figures re-checked against official sources.
- Wording from an earlier language review was applied; the page itself was not re-read.
- Language review: wording and terms checked, corrections applied. Versions: RU, EN · Антон Белянский, QA review
- Wording shared with several pages was updated.
- Page published.
This guide is general information about Spanish law, not a legal opinion on your case. Rules change and outcomes depend on your own facts and documents — check your situation before you act on it.