When you are on parental leave or at home looking after a sick child, most of your lost income will be compensated by the Social Insurance Agency by means of what is known as parental benefit or temporary parental benefit. Besides this payment, you will also receive payment from the university, known as the parental benefit supplement.
Parental benefit
The amount you receive from the Social Insurance Agency is dependent upon how you plan and distribute the days for which you are entitled to receive a payment. For instance, you may want to take five days a week, or seven. The total benefit you receive will also be affected by the level of payment defined for the day you have opted to take.
For a more precise response on how much parental benefit you will receive, take a look at the Social Insurance Agency website. Among other things, the Social Insurance Agency has a planning tool which allows you to see how choosing different options for your parental leave will affect your finances.
Parental benefit supplement
As an employee of the university, you will receive a supplementary amount when you claim parental benefit. This is equivalent to 10% of your pay, and you can receive this for a maximum of 360 days. Your parental benefit supplement is calculated on the basis of the consecutive amount of time you have worked for the 90 days prior to your leave.
For children born before 1 July 2009, the parental benefit supplement will be paid once you have submitted the Social Insurance Agency's "Notification of payment" to your payroll administrator. For children born on or after 1 July 2009, no notification of payment from the Social Insurance Agency is required for the funds to be paid.
Temporary parental benefit
When you have to stay at home to look after a sick child and are receiving temporary sickness benefit from the Social Insurance Agency, salary deductions will be made for every working day you are away, exactly as if you were at home sick yourself. You will then receive a payment from the Social Insurance Agency for every working day you spend at home with your sick child. This payment from the Social Insurance Agency for the temporary care of children is 80% of the income entitling you to sickness benefit for every working day you are absent in order to care for children.
For more in-depth information concerning payment during parental leave, please contact your salary administrator or visit the Social Insurance Agency website.