If you get sick
If you are unable to run your business for a period of time due to illness, you may receive compensation from the Swedish Social Insurance Agency (Försäkringskassan). How much compensation you receive will depend on how much profit you withdraw or how much salary you get from your company.
Different types of businesses
If you are a sole trader or run a general partnership or limited partnership
Report sick on the first day of illness
If you are a sole trader or run a general partnership or a limited partnership, you are not an employee. This means that if you get sick, you should report sick to the Swedish Social Insurance Agency on the first sick day. This applies regardless of whether you would have worked that day or not. Should you fall ill during the holiday, you must also report it in order to receive sickness benefit.
Report sick to the Swedish Social Insurance Agency (in Swedish)
Apply for sickness benefit
When you have registered sick, you can apply for sickness benefit.
How the compensation is calculated
If you are a sole trader or have a general partnership, the Swedish Social Insurance Agency decides your sickness benefit qualifying income based on your expected income. If your business is new and your income is low, you may be entitled to an SGI corresponding to that of an employee with the same tasks, education and experience for your first three years in business. This is called a build-up period. It is the Swedish Social Insurance Agency that decides whether you are entitled to a build-up period.
How compensation and SGI are calculated at the Swedish Social Insurance Agency (in Swedish)
How much compensation will I receive?
Use the service "Ersättningskollen" to quickly find out roughly how much you could get in sick pay and other types of compensation. You will get just under 80 percent of what you plan to pay yourself from the business and no more than SEK 1218 per day.
Qualifying days
Qualifying days are days in the beginning of a sick leave period for which you receive no compensation. If you are self-employed, you may choose to have 1, 14, 30, 60 or 90 qualifying days. If you do not indicate a preference, you will automatically be given 7 qualifying days. The more qualifying days you opt for, the lower your health insurance fee will be. The health insurance fee is included in the self-employed contribution that you pay to the Swedish Tax Agency.
Qualifying days and self-employed social security contributions
The self-employed contribution to health insurance for income year 2024 is calculated using the following percentages on income up to 10 times the price base amount at the beginning of the year:
For insured with a qualifying period of 1 day: 3.77%
For insured with a qualifying period of 7 days: 3.64%
For insured with a qualifying period of 14 days: 3.53%
For insured with a qualifying period of 30 days: 3.33%
For insured with a qualifying period of 60 days: 3.08%
For insured with a qualifying period of 90 days: 2.91%
For income over 10 times the price base amount, the percentage 3.64 is applied pursuant to Chapter 3, Section 17 of the Social Security Contributions Act.
If you have a limited company
Day 1-14
If you own a limited company, you are considered an employee of your business. This means that your company will pay you sick pay for the first 14 days that you are sick.
How to apply for sick pay for limited company owners at the Swedish Social Insurance Agency
Day 15
When you have been sick for 14 days, you should report sick leave to the Swedish Social Insurance Agency.
Report sick using Arbetsgivartjänsten (the Swedish Social Insurance Agency’s electronic services for employers, in Swedish)
Once you have reported sick you can apply for sickness benefit.
Apply for sickness benefit at the Swedish Social Insurance Agency (in Swedish)
How the compensation is calculated
The compensation you receive from the Swedish Social Insurance Agency as of the 15th sick day is calculated based on the salary you pay yourself from your limited company. This means that if you pay yourself little, or not at all, you risk getting no compensation if you get sick.
If your business is new and your income is low, you may be entitled to a sickness allowance-based income corresponding to that of an employee with the same tasks, education and experience for the first three years. This is called a build-up period. It is the Swedish Social Insurance Agency that decides whether you are entitled to a build-up period.
How compensation and SGI are calculated at the Swedish Social Insurance Agency (in Swedish)
How much compensation will I receive?
Use the service "Ersättningskollen" to quickly find out roughly how much you could get in sick pay and other types of compensation. You will get just under 80 percent of what you plan to pay yourself from the business and no more than SEK 1218 per day.
You who have a limited company state that you work for a private company.