Employee Is Hospitalized Due To Some Illness, Is It Necessary To Pay The Salary?

If an employee is hospitalized due to illness, is it necessary to pay salary for their leave/absent days? If so, kindly mention the law and the percentage of payment (including the calculation method). Please help me in solving this problem.

Dear, please provide complete details of the case so that we can guide you in the right direction. Is the employee covered under MESIC? If he is covered in MESIC, then we are not required to pay him for these days as the same will be taken care of by MESIC.

Thanks,
Santosh

Assuming that the employee is covered by a Mediclaim plan that takes care of his medical expenses, please continue to disburse his salary. Consider this gesture on humanitarian grounds. Him being unfit to work puts extra pressure on his family. You have no clue about his savings that could cover the expenses to run his home. Assuming that everyone leverages their salaries to the maximum and he hasn't saved enough to run his home, please continue to offer him the salary. This will build loyalty among other employees who continue to serve you. Hope you consider this request.

Hi,

When you are not covered under ESIC benefits, then an employee is, by default, covered under the Employee Compensation Act. Salary is provided based on actual days worked. The Employee Compensation Act covers only accident cases where an individual, engaged for the purposes of the employer's business, suffers an injury in any accident arising out of and in the course of his employment. Such individuals shall be entitled to compensation under the Act.

Hi,

Most of the organizations (private companies) try to pay the full month's salary if an employee is sick for 2 weeks to 3 months (this is best practice, as long as they have medical evidence). It doesn't matter if they are claiming medical insurance; this is, however, an added benefit/reward for all the employees in the organization. The insurance cost is paid by the company to the insurance provider on a yearly basis or renewed for all the employees. (Note: Not all employees claim insurance for that particular year.)

I have seen the best practices in larger organizations, for example, companies like Wipro, Philips, NXP, and also in small firms (they treat employees on contract/trainees/consultants in a fair manner). This helps other employees to be motivated and reduces turnover within the organization.

On humanitarian grounds, it's best to be paid and be supportive and treat this case as a special case.

Thanks,
Muriel Miracle
Associate Member (CIPD, UK)