Medical visits during working hours

The Villkorsavtal 9 kap 1 § [the Agreement on General Salary and Benefits for employees in the private and state sectors] defines the type of care that is included in this possibility to be on paid leave:

Physician
Occupational health services*
Outpatient care **
Maternity care *
Blood donation
Examinations or treatments following the remittance from a dentist or doctor
Emergency dentist visits

If necessary, an employee who is about to become a parent, but is not the one who is pregnant, may take leave without deduction of salary on two occasions per childbirth in order to attend a visit to a maternity centre. This does not apply from the 60th day before the expected date of birth of the child until the date of birth, as parental benefit can then be paid.

*Visits to the occupational health services, outpatient clinics or maternity clinics includes visits to physicians as well as district nurse, physiotherapist, wellfare officer, midwife and mammogram screening.

** Outpatient care is a collective term for treatment, therapy, healthcare and medical care being performed on non-hospitalised patients. The opposite is in-patient care.

Paid leave for medical visits is granted provided it must be made during working hours. As far as possible, medical visits must be planned for outside working hours. The employer may grant paid leave only in cases where this is not possible.

If you work full time, medical visits should be planned for the beginning or end of the working day. If you work part time, it should generally be possible to arrange such appointments to take place during your free time.

The employee must responsibly try to arrange such medical appointments as far as possible.

Example: An employee who is on sick leave at 50 % or is working part time for other reasons is prescribed physiotherapy.

It is not “necessary” for visits to the physiotherapist to take place during working hours, and they should normally take place during the employee’s free time.

As with all other absence from work, you must talk to your closest manager. Upon request from your manager, you must provide a summons.

Paid leave may be granted for the medical visit including travel time.

If the medical appointment is in the middle of a working day, leave may be granted for travel to and from the appointment and for the visit itself. You are expected to work the remaining time, both before and after the medical visit.

Travel time outside normal working hours is seen as free time.

”If necessary” should here be related to the care situation and how the care is set up. If it is possible to receive the same care in the place of business* as somewhere else in the country, you will not be granted paid leave if you instead choose to attend a physician further away. In such cases, paid leave may be granted for the length of time it would have taken for a medical visit in the place of business.

Should the visit concern specialist care that is not available in the place of business, you may be granted paid leave for both visit and travel time to journey to a medical appointment elsewhere. In such specific cases this may mean a whole day of leave for long travel times or several consecutive appointments.

*The place of business is normally defined as a radius of 50 km from the workplace.

In order for the medical visit to take place during paid working hours, you must be fit for duty after the visit. Should you not be fit for duty after the medical visit you will be seen as being on sick leave during the entire absence, inclusive of the medical visit, rather than on paid leave.