THE LABOUR Ministry, headed by Ľudovít Kaník, is in continuous negotiations with the Finance Ministry over ways of reducing sickness insurance payments made by employers, reports the daily SME.
The plan is to reduce the rate from 1.4 percent to one percent for employers and 4.4 percent to 2.4 percent for the self-employed.
The catch, however, lies in the compensation the Labour Ministry is seeking to top up lost revenue. It is proposing that the duty of employers to pay sick leave be extended from 10 to 14 days.
Social security provider Sociálna poistovňa would then take over the payments from the 15th day of the sick leave.
The most significant proposal from the Labour Ministry however, comes in the change to legislation for the self-employed.
The social security provider would also pay the self-employed sick leave compensation only from the 15th day of their sick leave. Until now, the self-employed have qualified for sick pay from the first day of sick leave.