No pay on the first day of illness? Here's how other countries handle sick leave

Wednesday, Aug 12, 2026

Der Standard

European countries have diverse sick pay models, ranging from full coverage to no payment on first day.

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[This is an automatically generated summary, for reference only]

European countries have widely varying sick pay regulations; some provide payment from day one, while others do not. The debate over sick leave is resurfacing across Europe, with criticism directed at both the number of people who are ill and the fact that they sometimes receive full salary. Some nations implement stricter rules, resulting in uncompensated initial days off.

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PULSE is an initiative coordinated by OBCT that has been promoting intensive journalistic cross-border collaborations in Europe since 2024. Its main aim is to help strengthen the European public sphere by reporting on and telling stories from new and diverse perspectives.

At the heart of PULSE are 10 leading national news outlets (Delfi – Lithuania, Deník Referendum – Czechia, Der Standard – Austria, EfSyn – Greece, El Confidencial – Spain, Gazeta Wyborcza – Poland, HotNews – Romania, HVG – Hungary, Il Sole 24 Ore – Italy, Mediapool – Bulgaria) and three transnational organisations, including OBCT , n-ost and Voxeurop .

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