This section contains information on who has the right to sick pay, for how long and who pays it.

In what situation can I claim?

All those covered by sickness social insurance are entitled to sickness benefit. Sickness benefit (ligos išmoka) is awarded in the following instances:

• to those insured who have become temporarily incapacitated through illness or injury and, as a result, suffer a loss of income;
• to those for caring for family members who are sick (children, step-children, spouses, parents and step-parents);
• to those whose work is suspended because of an outbreak of a communicable disease or epidemic;
• to those insured undergoing treatment in a healthcare facility that provides orthopaedic and/or prosthetic services;
• to those supervising pre-school, pre-primary or primary school education programmes as well as special education programs for children with disabilities where a system has been set up to limit the spread of infection;
• to those on maternity or childcare who fall ill;
• to those insured temporarily incapacitated as a result of having tissue, cells or organs removed for donor transplant purposes.

What conditions do I need to meet?

Most of those who are insured are entitled to sickness benefit from the very first day of being unable to work.

Sickness benefit is paid if a person:

• becomes temporarily incapacitated (an electronic incapacity certificate is issued);
• is covered for sickness through social insurance;
• has become temporarily incapacitated during a period of work (for those receiving income under copyright agreements - during the insurance period);
• is absent from work and loses earnings because of through illness;
• is insured and has a sickness social insurance record of at least 3 months in the previous 12 months, or 6 months in the previous 24 months;
• does not have the required sickness social insurance record because of studying up to the age of 26 or being in professional military service or a statutory civil servant;
• has submitted an application for benefits to the local SoDra office not later than 12 months after the end of the illness.

What am I entitled to and how can I claim?

• Sickness benefits for the first 2 days paid by the employer (except for those receiving income under copyright agreements who receive no sickness benefit for the first 2 days of illness). Employer-paid sickness benefit should be not less than 62.06% and not more than 100% of the employee's average earnings.
• Benefit paid from SoDra budget funds from the third day at 62.06% of the recipient's earnings over the previous three months.

Sickness benefit paid for caring for a sick family member or for caring for a child is paid from SoDra funds from the first day at 65.94% of earnings.

Where temporary incapacity is due to tissue or organ donation, sickness benefit is paid from SoDra funds at 77.58% of earnings.

The earnings base used to calculate benefit cannot be more than twice the national average monthly wage for the two quarters preceding the month when the person became temporarily incapacitated for work (for 2023 – EUR 3,574.20).

Jargon busters

• SoDra - The State Social Insurance Fund Board under the Ministry of Social Security and Labour, the main body responsible for social security.
• Insured income - all personal income based on which social security contributions are calculated plus the sickness, occupational rehabilitation, maternity, paternity, childcare benefits, work-related accidents or occupational diseases benefits and unemployment benefits.

Forms you may need to fill in

Applications for sickness benefit may be submitted online, completed at the local SoDra offices, or sent by post. The form required may be downloaded here.

Know your rights

These links will help you find out what your rights are. These are not European Commission websites and may not necessarily reflect the views of the Commission:

• SoDra information on sickness benefits

European Commission publication and websites:

• Social security coverage: your rights as an EU citizen abroad

Who do you need to contact?

By telephoning the SoDra information centre on 1883 or on +370 52500883 you can find out all about benefits.