Inclusion, Equality and Social Welfare

When an employee or a self-occupied person is sick from the place of work, a Blue Medical Certificate must be completed by a medical practioner and submitted to the Department of Social Security within ten (10) days from the first (1)st day of sickness. The only exceptions are in cases of hospitalisation or treatment abroad. In turn, the copy of the Blue Medical Certificate must be handed to the employer. If the sickness is longer than fourteen (14) days, the blue medical certificate must be renewed every two (2) weeks, until the employee is fit to resume work.

If eligible, the applicant may be awarded the Sickness Benefit. For this benefit to be awarded, a person must not have reached the retirement age.

 

Increased Sickness Benefit
From 1 January 2024, the beneficiaries who benefit from the Long-term Sickness Benefit and who have a continuous claim accepted for one hundred and fifty-six (156) days of benefit (or six (6) months), shall have their claim for Sickness Benefit automatically converted to Increased Sickness Benefit (ISB) from the one hundred and fifty seventh (157th) working days onwards. The applicable rate of the Inscreased Sickness Benefit  will be similar to that applicable for Invalidity Pension. The Increased Sickness Benefit will continue to be paid until:
• A final blue medical certificate is submitted, thus closing the claim for Sickness Benefit,
• A date decided by the Medical Board appointed by the Director                General  of Social Security,
• Exhaustion of social security contributions, or
• Exhaustion of four hundred and sixty-eight (468) days of benefit.

 

The above is applicable according to whichever comes first.

 

The payment rate for the Increased Sickness Benefit is thirty euros and    thirty-nine cents (€30.39) daily for a married person maintaining a            spouse, and twenty-three euros and sixteen cents (€23.16) daily for a single person or to a married person whose spouse works full-time.

 

There is no need to apply for the Increased Sickness Benefit as the Sickness Benefit will be automatically converted to Increased Sickness Benefit following a current and continuous payment of Sickness Benefit Claim of at least one-hundred and fifty-six (156) benefit days.

 

No documents are required to claim Increased Sickness Benefit as the claim shall be converted from Sickness Benefit to Increased Sickness Benefit based on the Medical Panel decision.

 

Sickness Benefit Credits 
An Employed person who is on sick leave on no-pay, or Self-occupied person who are in receipt of Sickness Benefit or has a continued Sickness Benefit Claim after Medical Board Decision but exhausted benefit payment.

 

Credits are awarded where applicable for each whole week of accepted Sickness, Occupational Injury, or Unemployment benefit claims.

 

Important Information about the Blue Medical Certificate
Claimants must ensure that the address written on the Blue Medical Certificate matches the official address held with the Department of Social Security, which will be used by the department for all official correspondence. Therefore, no changes will be made to the official address held by the Department of Social Security even if it differs from the one submitted on the certificate.
You can verify and update your official address online  only, as per your current address on your Identity Card by clicking here, or visit one of the servizz.gov hubs for further assistance.

 

•    A person is no longer required to submit the blue medical certificate         to the Department of Social Security if the period of illness is three (3)       working days or less.
•   Certification of illness of three (3) working days or less does not                 constitute a claim for Sickness Benefit but the copy of the certificate         must still be handed to the employer, if the ‘Kopja għall-Prinċipal’ is        demanded.
•   A First and Final Certificate means that the applicant has started                 sickness from work and the certificate shows the starting date of               sickness and also the date when the claimant is to return to work. This       certifies that the insured person is unfit for work for a specified period       of days, but not exceeding fourteen (14) days.
•    A First Only Certificate or an Open Certificate means that the                     applicant has either started sickness from work, or is still on sick leave       and the certificate is showing the start date of sickness if it is a First           Only Certificate but no date of return to work is indicated. This may           also mean that if it is an Open certificate there is no date showing             start date of sickness and also no date indicated when the applicant is       fit to return to work. This certifies that the insured person has been           medically examined for the first time, within a period of sickness, and       will be unfit for more than fourteen (14) days.
•    An Intermediate Certificate means the same as an Open Certificate. It       certifies that the insured person is still incapable to attend work for a         period not exceeding fourteen (14) days from the examination date           on the same blue medical certificate. This means that the claimant has       already submitted a First or First Open Certificate and is continuing           with the claim. It is important to note that until an Intermediate                 Certificate follows a open First Certificate no sickness benefit will be         paid to the applicant until the submission of a next Intermediate or           Final Certificate.
•   A Final Certificate means that the certificate is showing the date when      the applicant is to return to work though it does not indicate the date      when the sickness started. It certifies that the insured person may              resume work on the date specified (return to work date) for a period        not exceeding fourteen (14) days from the examination date on the          same blue medical certificate.
•   A person who suffers from Fibromyalgia or Myalgic                                    Encephalomyelitis (ME) will be paid sickness benefit from the first day      of illness as from the second certified request of illness in the same          year.
•   A person undergoing therapy for cancer will be paid sickness benefit        from the first day of illness as from the second certified request of            illness in the same year.
•   Parents with breaks in employment due to children undergoing                treatment for rare diseases, may be eligible to contribution credits for      a maximum period of eight (8) years.

 

For information regarding cross-border situations please click here.

An employee is paid for Sickness Benefit according to eligibility conditions, starting from the fourth (4)th working day of sickness, since the first three (3) working days are payable by the employer. The date of sickness starts from the date of the medical examination date showing on the blue medical certificate. An employer may either:

 

1.    Pay the wage of the employee in full for the first three (3) working days of sickness and then pay the difference between the Sickness Benefit entitlement and the employee’s wage for any additional certified sick leave day; or
2.    Pay the wage of the employee in full for the certified sick leave days and in return the employee refunds the employer the Sickness Benefit entitlement once this is issued by the Department of Social Security.

 

A self-occupied person who submits a blue medical certificate, is awarded Sickness Benefit from the fourth (4th) working day of sickness and is entitled to a fixed benefit rate.

 

Sickness Benefit is awarded according to the number of days of the employee’s working week; that is, for a five (5) day or six (6) day week. No payment by the Department of Social Security is effected for public holidays and Sundays.

 

A person who is unemployed due to a sickness and is awaiting to be awarded a Contributory Invalidity Pension or is not in a position to work and is submitting a blue medical certificate every two (2) weeks, may also be awarded Sickness Benefit. Such entitlement is paid from Monday to Saturday including Public Holidays, excluding Sundays.

 

Government employees are excluded from being awarded Sickness Benefit whilst on paid sick leave. However, if the government employee's Entitlement to full-pay Sick Leave days are consumed, he/she may request half-pay sick benefit days. If the entitlement of such days is also consumed, the claimant may request no-pay sick benefit days for such sick leave. The claimant should communicate with the Human Resources department at their place of work when on Sick Leave on Half Pay or No Pay.

 

The beneficiary will start to receive the Increased Sickness Benefit payment within twenty (20) days after the continuation of sickness after one-hundred and fifty-six (156) continuous benefit days.

 

Please click here for a Schedule of Benefits Rates.

 

You may make use of an online Calculator to calculate your Sickness Benefit entitlement.

 

•    An employee or a self-occupied person who is sick from the place of          work and duly pays social security contributions accordingly.

•    The blue medical certificate must be properly filled in by both the              medical doctor and the claimant for a successful submission.

 

•  To be eligible to the Sickness Benefit married rate, the claimant must          be:

•    To be eligible to the Sickness Benefit Single rate, the claimant must            be:

•    The claimant has paid a minimum of fifty (50) Class 1 and / or Class 2        Social Security Contributions since being registered under the Social        Security Act (Cap. 318.) until date of benefit claim. 

•    The claimant must also have twenty (20) paid or credited Class 1 or            Class 2 Social Security Contributions during the last two (2)                        consecutive calendar years prior to the year of Sickness Benefit Claim.

      Sickness Benefit is payable up to one-hundred and fifty-six (156)                days and may be extended up to four-hundred and sixty-eight (468)          benefit days in two (2) years, depending on the Medical Board’s                decision. This payment depends on the number of Social Security              Contributions paid during the claimant’s employment.

•    Blue Medical Certificate fully-filled and signed by a registered                    medical doctor.

•    Ensure that your banking details held by the Department of Social             Security are updated to receive payments by direct deposit in a bank.       The IBAN number must be a local Savings or Current account, but not       a Loan account. The indicated account must be in the name of the             beneficiary only. If a person is already receiving payment for any               benefit as direct credit in a bank account, the payment of the                     Sickness Benefit will be deposited in the same bank account. Banking       details may be updated on mySocialSecurity

Additional notes and scenarios
Below are four (4) Sickness Benefit claim scenarios that might guide a claimant to understand further how the ‘Less than four (4) days’ rule applies:

 

1.    An employee, who has a regular employment of a five (5) day week,           is certified by his/her doctor as medically unfit for work from                     Monday  to Wednesday in a particular working week. On the                     certificate the doctor indicates that claimant shall resume work on             Thursday. There are no public holidays falling between Monday and         Wednesday. The number of sick days in this case are three (3). 

2.    An employee does not work on Saturdays and Sundays, that is a five (5) day week, and is certified by his/her doctor as medically unfit for work from Friday of a particular week to Tuesday of the following working week. On the Blue Medical Certificate the doctor indicates that claimant shall resume work on Wednesday. There are no public holidays falling between Friday and Tuesday. The number of sick days in this case are also three (3).

3.    An employee does not work on Sundays, that is a six (6) day week             and is certified by his/her doctor as medically unfit for work from               Friday of a particular week to Monday of the following working                 week.  In the certificate the doctor indicates that claimant shall                   resume work on Tuesday. There are no public holidays falling                     between Friday and Monday. The number of sick days in this case             are also three (3).

4.    An employee is certified by his/her doctor as medically unfit for work         from Monday to Thursday in a particular working week. In the                   certificate the doctor indicates that claimant shall resume work on             Friday. However, Tuesday happens to be a Public Holiday. The                   number of sick days in this case are also three (3). 

In brief, the first three (3) working days of any Sickness Benefit Claim must not include weekly non-working days (such as Saturdays and/or Sundays, or any non-working days resulting from shift work), and also any Public Holidays falling within.

 

How to apply
One may submit a copy of the original blue medical certificate online. The approximate time taken to fill in and submit the online application is six (6) minutes.

 

Alternatively, the original blue medical certificate can be taken to the nearest servizz.gov hub. It is the employee’s responsibility to submit this blue medical certificate to the Department of Social Security. Please note that the Department of Social Security does not accept any blue medical certificates submitted online by the employer on behalf of the claimant. Furthermore, blue medical certificates delivered in bulk by employers on behalf of employees will also not be accepted.

 

You will receive the payment within twenty (20) days if the required details are submitted and you are eligible. To view any related payments, one must access the Payments Relates Services, where applicable.

 

With regards to the Increased Sickness Benefit, there is no need to apply as the Sickness Benefit will be automatically converted to Increased Sickness Benefit following a current and continuous payment of Sickness Benefit Claim of at least one-hundred and fifty-six (156) benefit days.