Sickness benefits

• According to the fund’s regulations, members whose employers have paid a percentage of their income to the fund for at least 3 months prior to any sickness or accident, qualify for benefits because of salary loss.
• The right to sickness benefits is acquired when contract- or statutory payment from employer is finished. In case of work related accidents or traffic accidents sickness benefits are not paid by the fund but should be paid from insurance companies and are counted as statutory payments.
• The amount of benefits is determent by the length of the time an employer has been paying for a member. If an employer has been paying to the fund for the last 6 months or more benefits are up to 80% of the member’s average wages for the last 6 months. If an employer has paid to the fund for the last 5 years or more, the benefits can be up to 100% of the member’s average wages for the last 6 months, in both cases minus the benefits the member should receive from The State Social Security Institute (Tryggingastofnun). If a member has worked less than 6 months the amount is less and according to the time the fund has been receiving payments from the employer.
• The right to payments from the sickness fund expires when a fund member gets the right to payments from The State Social Security Institute (Tryggingastofnun) and/or from a Pension fund (disability-, rehabilitation- or retirement pension).
• Sickness benefits are paid for up to 180 calendar days, though never longer than the member is unable to work. In cases of serious illness it is possible to receive benefits for more than 180 days in consultation with the union’s confidential doctor.
• Fund members are required to pay back any benefits that they receive in surplus to what they are entitled to.
• In addition to the benefits from the Efling trade union, members also have the right to accident-and/or sickness benefits from The State Social Security Institute (Tryggingastofnun).

Documents needed for application of sickness benefits 
To apply a member must hand in: 

• doctors certificate (sjúkradagpeningavottorð) 
• certificate from employer stating the period that the employee is without pay (starfsvottorð)
• copy of last pay slip (launaseðill)
• tax-card (otherwise the benefits will be fully taxed) 
• a renewed doctors certificate is to be handed in every 2 months.
• All documents need to be received by the fund no later than the 20th of each month for payment at the end of the month.

Other payments (grants) from the fund: 
6 months membership required:

• Physical therapy 
• Residing at The NLFI Rehabitation and Health Clinic 
• Exercise in health clubs or swimming pools
• Cancer screening at the Icelandic Cancer Society (3 months membership required).
• Risk factor evaluation at the Icelandic Heart association
• Courses to quit smoking
• Therapy at SÁÁ and MFM
• Grant to buy glasses
• Grant to buy hearing-aid equipment
• LASER eye-surgery
• Psychological therapy
• Grants for adoption ( the cost for a parent must be at least kr. 300.000.-) and/or expensive medical (technical) conception therapy (cost for a member at least kr. 100.000.-)
• Gait-analysis
• Dyslexia diagnosis
• Grant to buy CPAP mask for sleeping apnea

For further information on grants and benefits available from the sickness benefits fund please contact Efling - trade union