Sick Leave in Ukraine: When Employees Are Paid and Why They Have to Wait

In Ukraine, payment for the first five days of temporary disability due to general illness is covered by the employer. From the sixth day onwards, payments are funded by the Pension Fund of Ukraine. Certain procedures must be followed for these funds to be accrued.

According to Article 17 of the Law "On Compulsory State Social Insurance," the amount of payments for temporary disability depends on the employee's insurance record:

• Up to three years of insurance record: 50% of the average

  income

• From three to five years: 60%

• From five to eight years: 70%

• More than eight years: 100%

As per regulations, the employer pays for the first five days of illness. If the disability period extends beyond this, payments from the sixth day are funded by the Pension Fund of Ukraine.

However, an employer cannot calculate and pay sick leave until the corresponding document is closed and achieves a "Ready for payment" status.

The Pension Fund of Ukraine has confirmed that a disability certificate with the "Ready for payment" status is the basis for assigning payments.

Typically, an electronic sick leave attains this status seven days after its closing date. While the document has an "Open" status, it can be amended or extended.

Consequently, employers lack legal grounds to calculate the average salary and accrue payments for an unfinished insurance case.

The process of assigning and accruing sick leave at an enterprise involves several stages:

• The employer awaits the document's status change to "Ready for

  payment."

• Within ten working days of this status change, the enterprise must assign payments in accordance with part 1 of Article 24 of the Social Insurance

  Law.

• Following this decision, the company accrues payment for the first five days at its own

  expense.

• If the sick leave duration was longer, the enterprise prepares a calculation statement to receive funding for the subsequent days.

In cases of prolonged employee illness, sick leave may comprise multiple disability certificates. The doctor closes one document and opens the next to continue the treatment period.

The first disability certificate, once closed and having achieved "Ready for payment" status, can be accepted for payment without waiting for the entire illness period to conclude.

Payment for the first five days of illness should be made on the nearest payroll day after assignment, whether it be the advance or main salary.

If the sick leave has an "Open" status in the insurer's cabinet, payment cannot be expected. Payments are only possible after the document is closed, the seven-day period has elapsed, and the status has changed.

As previously reported by Judicial-Legal Newspaper, changes to the procedure for calculating the average salary for payments under compulsory state social insurance came into effect on 1 May. These innovations affect individual entrepreneurs, part-time workers, and the rules for excluding certain periods from the calculation.

The changes were introduced by Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine Resolution No. 533 dated 29 April 2026, which amends Resolution No. 1266 dated 26 September 2001, regulating the procedure for calculating the average salary for social payments.