Rules for issuing sick leave in 2026

Sick Leave in Ukraine in 2026: оформление, Payment, Checks, and Employer Actions

As of March 27, 2026, the main format in Ukraine remains electronic sick leave. A doctor creates a medical conclusion on temporary incapacity for work in the electronic healthcare system, and on its basis, a certificate of incapacity for work is generated in the Electronic Register of Certificates of Incapacity for Work, which the employer then uses. Certain new rules adopted by Law No. 4683-IX will take effect only on April 1, 2026. (Law of Ukraine)

What serves as the basis for issuing sick leave

For an employee, everything begins with a medical conclusion created by the attending physician in the electronic healthcare system. The details of such a conclusion record information about the doctor who established the fact of temporary incapacity for work and signed the document with a qualified electronic signature or an advanced electronic signature based on a qualified certificate. After that, a certificate of incapacity for work is generated in the electronic register. (Law of Ukraine)

An electronic certificate of incapacity for work is a working document for the employer. It appears in the policyholder’s account on the web portal of electronic services of the Pension Fund of Ukraine on the day it is created, first as an informational document, and after the expiration of the установленого period — as a document on the basis of which accruals can be made. (Pension Fund of Ukraine)

When paper sick leave is possible

These include, in particular:

• extension and closure of certificates issued before October 1, 2021;
• expiration of the period during which the doctor may make changes to the medical conclusion;
• adoption of a child within two months from the date of birth;
• technical problems between the registers due to which the electronic certificate is not generated for more than seven days;
• suspension of user access to the central database of the electronic healthcare system under martial law;
• missing the deadline for applying for an extension of incapacity for work due to force majeure during martial law or a state of emergency. (Law of Ukraine)

Separately, during martial law and for three months after its termination or cancellation, it is allowed to issue certificates of incapacity for work printed on a white sheet of paper if the institution has no forms and cannot obtain them. Such a document is equivalent to a regular paper certificate of incapacity for work. (Law of Ukraine)

What cases sick leave covers

The Ministry of Health procedure provides for the following main categories of medical conclusions on temporary incapacity for work:

• general illness or injury,
• care for a sick child,
• care for a sick family member,
• care for a child in the event of illness of the person caring for the child,
• quarantine,
• observation or self-isolation during quarantine,
• transfer to lighter work,
• orthopedic prosthetics,
• pregnancy and childbirth,
• treatment in a health resort facility. (Law of Ukraine)

For business, this means that sick leave is not only about an employee’s own illness. It may also be issued for caring for a child or family member, during quarantine restrictions, when transferring to lighter work for medical reasons, during prosthetics or health resort treatment, as well as in connection with pregnancy and childbirth. (Law of Ukraine)

How an employer should work with e-sick leave

After an e-sick leave certificate is created, the employer sees it in their account on the Pension Fund of Ukraine portal on the day of formation. At this stage, it is not yet paid. The status «Closed» changes to «Ready for payment» 7 days after the closing date — for cases of temporary incapacity for work, and 7 days after the opening date — for sick leave certificates related to pregnancy and childbirth. (Pension Fund of Ukraine)

After acquiring the status «Ready for payment», the policyholder or persons authorized by them review the documents and decide on granting the payment. For temporary incapacity benefits, this must be done no later than 10 working days from the date the documents are received, and for maternity benefits — no later than 3 working days. The law directly imposes on the policyholder the obligation to verify the correctness of accrual, timeliness of payment, and the grounds for issuing the documents. (Law of Ukraine)

To finance payments from social insurance funds, the employer prepares and submits an application-calculation to the Pension Fund of Ukraine no later than 5 working days from the date of the decision to grant the payment. After receiving the application-calculation, the territorial body of the Pension Fund of Ukraine finances the policyholder within 3 working days. For an employee working under an employment contract, the benefit is paid on the nearest date established for salary payment after the benefit is granted. (Pension Fund of Ukraine)

Who pays and how much

As a general rule, the first 5 days of temporary incapacity for work due to illness or injury not related to an occupational accident are paid by the employer. From the 6th day, financing is provided by the Pension Fund of Ukraine. At the same time, maternity benefits and benefits for caring for a child or another family member are granted from insurance funds from the first day. (Law of Ukraine)

The amount of temporary incapacity benefit depends on the insurance record:

• 50% of the average salary — if the insurance record is up to 3 years;

• 60% — from 3 to 5 years;

• 70% — from 5 to 8 years;

• 100% — more than 8 years.
  Certain privileged categories are entitled to 100% regardless of the length of service. (Law of Ukraine)

If the insured person has an insurance record of less than 6 months during the last 12 months before the insured event, sick leave payments are limited to the amount calculated on the basis of the minimum wage. As of January 1, 2026, the minimum wage is UAH 8,647. (Law of Ukraine)

Employees working part-time

From April 4, 2025, temporary incapacity benefits and maternity benefits are again paid not only at the primary place of work, but also at the place of part-time employment. No restrictions are established on the number of part-time workplaces for such payments. (Pension Fund of Ukraine)

The electronic certificate of incapacity for work is sent to policyholders at the primary place of work and at the place of part-time employment through the policyholder’s account on the Pension Fund of Ukraine portal. To grant the payment at the place of part-time employment, the employee submits a certificate of average salary from the primary place of work; if there are several part-time workplaces, certificates of average salary from those workplaces are also added. (Pension Fund of Ukraine)

Special cases and limitations

For employees engaged in seasonal and temporary work, temporary incapacity benefit due to illness or injury not related to an occupational accident is granted for no more than 75 calendar days during a calendar year. (Law of Ukraine)

For caring for a sick child under the age of 14, the benefit is paid from the first day for the period during which the child needs care, but for no more than 14 calendar days on an outpatient basis. If the child requires inpatient treatment, the benefit is paid for the entire period of staying with the child in the hospital. For caring for a sick family member, except for a child under 14, the benefit is granted from the first day, but for no more than 3 calendar days, and in exceptional cases — for no more than 7 calendar days. (Law of Ukraine)

Benefit for caring for a sick child, a sick family member, or in the event of illness of the person caring for a child under 3 years of age or a child with a disability under 18 years of age is not granted if the insured person was at that time on annual, educational, or creative leave. (Law of Ukraine)

If temporary incapacity for work lasts continuously for 120 calendar days, this is a criterion for referring the person for an assessment of everyday functioning. The same approach applies when incapacity for work due to the same illness or condition lasts intermittently for a total of 150 days during the year. This is the limit after which the issue goes beyond the scope of an ordinary extension of sick leave. (Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine)

During martial law and for three months after its termination or cancellation, a medical conclusion regarding incapacity for work that arose abroad may be created on the basis of medical documents issued abroad. As a general rule, such documents must be translated into the state language and certified in accordance with the established procedure. (Law of Ukraine)

Checks of the validity of sick leave certificates

Already now, the territorial bodies of the Pension Fund of Ukraine have the right to check the validity of the issuance and extension of certificates of incapacity for work and the documents that serve as the basis for their creation. The checks are carried out by authorized officials of the Pension Fund of Ukraine and/or authorized doctors, while the review of medical conclusions is carried out exclusively by authorized doctors. (Law of Ukraine)

The mechanism is built on the principle of extraterritoriality: a medical conclusion is checked by an authorized doctor from a different region than the one where the doctor who created the conclusion works. Such a doctor undergoes automated selection through the electronic healthcare system and works with depersonalized data on the basis of which the medical conclusion was created. (Law of Ukraine)

The period for conducting the check may not exceed 10 calendar days. Based on its results, a conclusion is formed with the final assessment «justified» or «unjustified», and a certificate of the check is sent to the applicant and the head of the medical institution within 3 working days from the date of formation. (Law of Ukraine)

What will change from April 1, 2026

From April 1, 2026, Law No. 4683-IX will come into force. It will directly rewrite the rules on checking the validity of the issuance and extension of certificates of incapacity for work, as well as liability for creating an unjustified medical conclusion. Until that date, such provisions do not yet apply. (Law of Ukraine)

After this law comes into force, it will be expressly established that if it is impossible to create a certificate of incapacity for work in the electronic register, a paper certificate will serve as the basis for granting the benefit. Separate rules for the use of a paper copy for part-time employees and for persons combining employment with entrepreneurial or other activities have also been regulated. (Law of Ukraine)

In addition, the law establishes a separate procedure for notification of detected violations, a demand for compensation of the insurance payment, a 10-day period for voluntary compensation or filing a complaint, a 30-day period for review of the complaint with the possibility of extension for another 15 days, a rule on automatic satisfaction of the complaint in case the review period is missed, a penalty of 0.1% for each day of delay, and the status of an enforcement document for the demand for compensation. All these mechanisms will start working precisely on April 1, 2026, and not earlier. (Law of Ukraine)

Taxation and accruals for the employer

Temporary incapacity benefit and payment for the first five days of temporary incapacity for work are not included in the payroll fund. At the same time, sick leave payments are taxed on general grounds:

• PIT — 18%,
• military levy — 5%. (Public Information and Reference Resource)

For the purposes of the SSC, the accrual base includes payment for the first five days of temporary incapacity for work at the employer’s expense, the temporary incapacity benefit itself, and maternity benefits. The general SSC rate for employers is 22% of the accrual base defined by law. (Law of Ukraine)

Maternity benefits are not included in total taxable income under subparagraph 165.1.1 of the Tax Code of Ukraine, therefore PIT and the military levy are not charged on them. (ck.tax.gov.ua)

Example for business

An employee works for you part-time and at the same time has a primary place of work in another company. After an e-sick leave certificate is created, this document is automatically sent to both employers through the Pension Fund of Ukraine portal. To grant the payment for the part-time job, the employee submits only a certificate of average salary from the primary place of work. This is exactly the model the Pension Fund of Ukraine currently uses. (Pension Fund of Ukraine)

Official sources

• Law of Ukraine «On compulsory state social insurance» dated 23.09.1999 No. 1105-XIV — key provisions: Articles 15, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26; payment procedure, deadlines for reviewing documents, amount of benefit, limitations for insurance record of less than 6 months. (Law of Ukraine)

• Order of the Ministry of Health of Ukraine dated 01.06.2021 No. 1066 «Some issues of forming medical conclusions on temporary incapacity for work» — key provisions: signing of the medical conclusion, categories of medical conclusions, paper exceptions, rules during martial law, cases of temporary incapacity for work arising abroad. (Law of Ukraine)

• Resolution of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine dated 03.03.2023 No. 185 — Procedure for conducting checks of the validity of issuance and extension of certificates of incapacity for work; key points: 1, 2, 9, 13, 17. (Law of Ukraine)

• Law of Ukraine «On the State Budget of Ukraine for 2026» dated 03.12.2025 No. 4695-IX — amount of the minimum wage from January 1, 2026. (Law of Ukraine)

• Law of Ukraine dated 18.12.2024 No. 4158-IX — restoration of sick leave payments for part-time employees from 04.04.2025. (Law of Ukraine)

• Law of Ukraine dated 05.11.2025 No. 4683-IX — changes to the rules for issuance, control, and liability regarding sick leave certificates; effective from 01.04.2026. (Law of Ukraine)

• Law of Ukraine «On collection and accounting of the single contribution for compulsory state social insurance» dated 08.07.2010 No. 2464-VI — key provisions: Articles 7 and 8 regarding the SSC accrual base and the 22% rate. (Law of Ukraine)

• Tax Code of Ukraine dated 02.12.2010 No. 2755-VI — key provisions: subparagraph 165.1.1, paragraph 167.1, subsection 10 of section XX regarding PIT and the military levy; official explanations of the tax authority regarding taxation of sick leave payments and maternity benefits. (Public Information and Reference Resource)