Sick leave in practice: what can employers require – and how far does the duty to accommodate extend?

Managing sick leave and workplace accommodation has become an increasingly topical issue in working life. At the same time, uncertainty often arises in practice: What can an employer require of an employee on sick leave, how far does the duty to accommodate go—and when is enough actually enough?

The employer is responsible for facilitating the employee’s return to work and preventing working conditions from aggravating existing health issues. This requires early dialogue, concrete assessments, and documented follow-up. The earlier the parties assess possibilities for work, the greater the room to maneuver to avoid long-term absence.

The employer must prepare a follow-up plan no later than four weeks and hold a dialogue meeting within seven weeks, unless this is clearly unnecessary. The follow-up plan should not be reduced to formalities. What matters is whether the company can document genuine assessments, actual dialogue, and concrete measures along the way.

Accommodation may include, for example, altered tasks, reduced pace, adjusted working hours, ergonomic measures, or temporary redistribution of duties. The employer must consider both general and individual measures.

At the same time, the duty to accommodate is not unlimited. The employer is not obliged to implement measures that significantly compromise operations, the work environment, or the burden on other employees. This creates challenging situations in practice, particularly where the company has limited resources or few alternative tasks.For their part, the employee has a duty to cooperate and to help identify solutions that enable work. This includes participating in dialogue, contributing to the follow-up plan, and trying out realistic accommodation measures. The employee is not, however, required to share medical or private information beyond what concerns their functional capacity at work.

If the employee fails to cooperate, the employer may in certain cases be exempt from the obligation to prepare a follow-up plan. At the same time, as a general rule, the National Insurance Act requires work-related activity after eight weeks of sick leave in order to retain the right to sickness benefits, unless medical circumstances or lack of accommodation options justify an exception.

The government has placed a high priority on reducing sick leave and increasing participation in working life. As part of this initiative, a recent measure stipulates that partial sick leave is to be the main rule rather than full sick leave. While the intention is to strengthen attachment to the workplace, the arrangement also entails practical and economic challenges for employers. When employees are partially on sick leave, the employer’s duty to accommodate the work situation and adapt tasks can be more demanding to fulfill. At the same time, the option of hiring temporary replacements, often a practical solution to ensure sound operations, will in many cases be less relevant or more difficult to implement.