Sick leave without medical certificate

In PAM’s sectors, it is possible to agree at the company level on a self-certification procedure for short sick leave. You will then not need a doctor’s or nurse’s certificate if you are sick for only a few days. The rules are often that you can report yourself sick for 1–3 days, and only when you are not seriously ill and need no medical treatment by a doctor (for example, flu or stomach flu).

You must always tell your employer right away that you are sick.

The employer may require a medical certificate if they have a reason

Even if there’s a self-certification procedure in place, the employer may say that the worker must have a doctor’s certificate for all sick days, starting from the first day, but they must have a reason for asking this. The reason can be, for example, one of these: the worker has often been away from work; something has happened at the workplace before the sick leave; the supervisor thinks that the worker may be drinking too much alcohol or using drugs; or the supervisor may be concerned about the worker’s ability to work.

The rules for sick leave without medical certificate are agreed separately at each workplace

The workplace can have an agreement about when and how workers can be on sick leave without medical certificate.

These things are then agreed:

• Who can be on sick leave without medical certificate
• If you can be on sick leave without medical certificate during your trial period in a new job (probation period)
• The rules about sick leave without medical certificate before or after a holiday or days off
• How the reporting and recording are done
• What will be done if you are sick longer
• How many times a year can you be on sick leave without medical certificate
• How long can you be absent without medical certificate
• How abuse of the system is prevented and when a worker may no longer have the right to sick leave without medical certificate
• Can you be on sick leave without a medical certificate after having sick leave based on a doctor’s certificate

Employer organizations recommend that their member companies let the workers take sick leave without medical certificate. Shop stewards (union representative, luottamusmies) should also actively promote this. The system saves time, trouble and money for both the worker and the employer.

Read more:

• Sick leave and sick pay in PAM’s collective agreements
• Getting sick during annual holiday

Useful links

• Annual Holidays Act (pdf)
• Collective agreements for different sectors