Sick leave after a non-work accident in Spain
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The calculator has non-work accident selected: enter your base and the days to see each band and who pays it.
Your pay for 45 days of leave
€1,737
Non-work accident · September 2026 base (rule in force until 30 November 2026: the previous month)
| Daily regulatory base | €60 |
| Statutory benefit | €1,737 |
| Paid by the employer (days 4 to 15) | €432 |
| Paid by the INSS or mutua | €1,305 |
| Without leave you would have earned (gross) | €2,700 |
Gross amounts: the benefit is subject to income tax and contributions. Nothing you type leaves your browser.
| Days | Dates | % | Who pays | Amount |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1-3 | 29 Oct 2026 – 31 Oct 2026 | 0% | Nobody: unpaid days | €0 |
| 4-15 | 1 Nov 2026 – 12 Nov 2026 | 60% | Employer, at its own cost | €432 |
| 16-20 | 13 Nov 2026 – 17 Nov 2026 | 60% | INSS or mutua (advanced by the employer) | €180 |
| 21-45 | 18 Nov 2026 – 12 Dec 2026 | 75% | INSS or mutua (advanced by the employer) | €1,125 |
Prepared by Radif Partners · Method · Rules and agreements read in the BOE on 29 October 2026
A non-work accident is any accident unrelated to your job: a fall at home, a sports injury, a car crash on holiday. It is paid exactly like an ordinary illness: nothing for the first three days, 60% from day 4 to day 20 and 75% from day 21, with days 4 to 15 paid by the employer. The big difference is that no contribution days are required: being registered on the day of the accident is enough. So someone who has just started work with only 40 days of contributions is paid if they break a leg skiing, but not if the leave is for flu. With a daily base of 50 euros, a 45-day leave after a non-work accident pays €1,447.50. If the accident happens on the way to or from work, it is not a non-work accident: it is a commuting accident.
What it is and how it is paid
Article 158.1 of the General Social Security Act defines a non-work accident by exclusion: it is any accident that is not a work accident under article 156. For pay purposes it is grouped with ordinary illness: Royal Decree 53/1980 sets 60% for days 4 to 20 and Decree 3158/1966 75% from day 21. The table shows a 10-day and a 45-day leave.
| Band | 10-day leave | 45-day leave | Who pays |
|---|---|---|---|
| Days 1 to 3 | €0 | €0 | Nobody |
| Days 4 to 15 | €210.00 | €360.00 | Employer |
| From day 16 | €0.00 | €1,087.50 | INSS or mutua |
| Total | €210.00 | €1,447.50 |
The advantage over an ordinary illness
Article 172.b) of the same Act requires no prior contribution period for any accident, work-related or not. This matters most to people who have just started work, who are returning after years out of the labour market or who move between short contracts. An ordinary illness, by contrast, needs 180 days in the previous 5 years, as qualifying period explains. If your doctor recorded an ordinary illness and it was an accident, ask for it to be corrected: it can be the difference between being paid and not. Tell the doctor how, when and where it happened, and keep the emergency report: it is the evidence that there was an accident and not an illness that simply appeared. The code on the sick note is what the INSS and the employer will rely on.
Do you need contribution days?
Do you meet the minimum contributions?
Not required
| Days required | 0 |
| Without the minimum | no benefit, though the sick note is valid |
Where the line falls
An accident on the way to or from work is not a non-work accident but a work accident, paid at 75% from the next day: see commuting accidents. Nor is one suffered while doing, on the employer's orders, a task outside your role. If in doubt, compare the two figures in work accidents: for a short leave, the gap between one classification and the other can exceed what you receive in total. The three unpaid days and the agreements that pay them are covered in the first days of leave.