There are huge differences in the amount of sick pay employees receive across the 25 European Union countries, according to research by Aon Consulting.
The latest edition of the firm’s Eurometer research found that employees in the UK can expect to receive less than three-quarters of their normal take home pay (74 per cent) when they are ill for six months.
German workers receive similar levels of pay (73 per cent), while workers in France can expect only two-thirds of their normal salary package.
Slovakian workers currently suffer the highest reduction in pay when they are sick, only receiving a little more than half of their normal salary (51 per cent).
Employees in Denmark, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg and The Netherlands have no reduction in their amount of take home pay.
In almost all EU countries, sickness benefit is comprised of a payment by the government – via social security – and a supplement paid by the employer.
Employers in the UK pay the second highest level of employer provided benefit. At the opposite end of the scale are the Czech Republic, Estonia, Slovakia and Portugal, where employers do not contribute to sickness benefit at all. In The Netherlands, the employer pays the full sickness benefit without any supplement from social security.
