Approximately 85% of salaried employees in the Canary Islands receive some form of compensation to mitigate the usual salary reduction during sick leave. This percentage, compiled by the Technical Cabinet of CCOO-Canarias, aligns with the average for Spain. There is broad consensus between employers' associations and unions to protect workers' purchasing power in these situations.
However, this protection is threatened by the intentions of PP leader Alberto Núñez Feijóo, who has expressed a desire to modify regulations so that employees do not earn the same while on leave as when active, arguing this incentivizes absences. Current regulations already stipulate that workers on common illness leave stop receiving their salary from the first to the third day, subsequently receiving an incapacity benefit of approximately 60% of their salary, initially paid by the company and later by the mutual insurance or Social Security.
Despite legal minimums, it is common for companies and unions to agree to partially or fully supplement this public benefit so that workers do not suffer economic hardship. Data from the Ministry of Labor for 2025 indicates that 86.7% of Spanish employees covered by collective bargaining have clauses for salary complements. In the Canary Islands, these percentages stand at around 85% for common illness and 80% for work accidents or professional illnesses.
These complements tend to improve benefits as the leave progresses but often leave the first three days uncovered, aiming to discourage short absences. Full coverage from the first day is more common in the public sector, where administrations typically pay employees their full salary.
In large companies like Mercadona, salary supplements may be conditional on factors such as the duration of the leave or the employee's annual absence percentage. Collective agreements often include improvements on legal minimums for employees with good attendance, although courts have questioned such incentives.
