An employer is not required by law to pay an employee sick leave for absence due to a traffic accident !
Case
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Maya, who is employed as a programmer in a Hi-tech firm, was injured in a traffic accident on a Friday (her day off) during her spare time. Because of her injury, Maya will be forced to take a leave of absence of 2 weeks. She has accrued 32 sick days to her credit. Does her employer need to pay her sick leave pay for this leave of absence ?
Answer
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Article 11 of the sick leave law (1976) states:
“An employee will be eligible for compensation for absence from work due to health reasons, except for payment invalid stipend from social security or repercussion pay for damages, will not be eligible for sick leave pay for the period of time he is eligible for the aforementioned payment as such, and for any other period specifically defined by the law that the employee is not eligible for sick leave pay”
Explanation
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person who is injured in a traffic accident, g-d forbid, is eligible to receive compensation money (among other things, for loss of income period) from the Insurance company which insured the vehicle(s) who were involved in the accident. This according to the ‘compensation law for injured in traffic accidents’ (1975), and the applicable statutes and orders relevant. Therefore in this case, the employer is not obligated to pay sick day leave to the employee for this leave of absence from her accrued sick days, unless there is a collective work agreement/widened statute/personal contract/custom in place of employment that specifically states otherwise.
It should be noted that the employer can pay the sick leave days, as a loan until the employee receives the compensation from other sources (but if this is done it should be in writing, in order to avoid possible future misunderstandings)
Also, note that if an employee is involved in an accident during and as a result of work (including traveling on the regular way – without any detours) from his home to work and vis-versa will be considered a work-related accident, which would also entitle the employee for ‘work-related-accident stipend’ from social security.
