7 of February, 2025

Nowadays, there are various types of leaves of absence, among which you find the non-occupational accident leave. This type of leave is often confused with common illness leave.

Even though both have certain similarities, it is advisable to know what a non-occupational accident leave means and the differences with common illness leave. Are you also interested in supporting yourself with an absence manager? Then don’t hesitate to keep reading to stay informed.

What a non-occupational accident leave is

A non-occupational accident is understood as any injury or health status alteration that derives from an incident that occurs outside of work or is not a consequence of it.

That is, it can happen anywhere and at any time, outside the place of work. In these cases, the person is entitled to compensation according to their civil liability insurance or health insurance, but not from the employer.

The General Social Security Law, as mentioned in Article 156, considers the following cases as non-occupational accidents:

Those due to “force majeure unrelated to work, understanding this as one that is of such a nature that it has no relationship with the work being carried out when the accident occurred.”
In no case will those caused during vacations or as part of natural phenomena be considered force majeure unrelated to employment.
Those that are due to imprudence or to a reckless attitude by the injured worker.

A common example of this type of incidents, are domestic or traffic accidents, among others.

Types of temporary disability

To understand more in-depth what we’re talking about, it’s interesting to know what temporary disability is first. The leave of absence due to work incapacity can occur for several reasons.

This happens when an employee is unable to work due to a cause that requires medical assistance. Specifically, there are 4 types of temporary disabilities that can be the cause of leave:

Leave due to common illness.
Leave due to non-occupational accident.
Leave due to occupational disease.
Leave due to occupational accident.

Differences between occupational and non-occupational accidents

As its name implies, an occupational accident occurs while performing work.

On the other hand, the non-occupational accident, happens when a person gets injured outside the workplace.

If you want to understand the difference between occupational and non-occupational accidents you should consider three factors: where it happens, when it happens and who is responsible for the compensation. The same way, occupational accidents have to do with the task at hand, while a non-occupational one has to do with any other reason.

On the other hand, the level of employer responsibility is different. When it is a non-occupational accident the company is not responsible for the damages, something that does happen in the case of an occupational accident.

Consequences of a non-occupational and an occupational accident

This is undoubtedly one of the main differences between occupational and non-occupational accident leave. When it’s an occupational incident, the compensation should be paid by the entity’s liability insurance, as it is understood that it is responsible for the incident.

Also, the company may be responsible for providing a work compensation beyond the mandatory, like the additional costs of the incident.

On the contrary, in a non-occupational accident the worker will receive compensation from the health insurance or Social Security.

Non-occupational accident and common illness: are they the same?

Many people tend to confuse common illness leave with non-occupational accident leave. When talking about common illness leave, which is usually the most common, the reason for it is a health issue that makes the person indisposed.

Even though non-occupational accident leave usually occurs when there’s a physical injury unrelated to the work done that prevents carrying out the professional activity.

In both cases, they happen outside and completely unrelated to employment. However, HR personnel must keep in mind these differences when managing them.

How to manage non-occupational accident leave from HR

Now that you know what non-occupational accident leave is and the differences with other types of temporary disabilities, all that’s left is to manage it correctly. The steps to follow are the following:

Receive the medical report and notify Social Security

As with any other type of leave, the worker must deliver the non-occupational accident report signed by a doctor to the HR department as soon as possible. This must indicate the estimated period of leave.

Once you have it, you will have to notify Social Security to carry out the leave. You can do it online or by mail.

Calculate the temporary disability allowance

The amount to be paid is the same as in the case of common illness. Thus, during the first 3 days of non-occupational accident leave no benefit will be collected. From the fourth day until the 15th, the employee is entitled to 60% funded by the company.

After that day, the same amount is collected until the 20th, charged to Social Security. Thus, after the 21st day onwards, this will be 75%, funded by Social Security.

As we know that this task can be complicated, at Sesame HR we offer a software for personnel management, with which you can comfortably do it.

Ricardo López has built a solid career in the field of human resources, excelling in payroll administration, labor relations management, and employment advisory services. His academic background in labor law and human resources, combined with his experience in companies such as Zeus - Smart Visual Data, Sesame HR, and Grupo Noa's, has allowed him to develop a comprehensive understanding of workforce dynamics and personnel management. With over 10 years of experience, he has demonstrated strong expertise in benefits administration, HR documentation, and career counseling. Ricardo continues to contribute to the efficient and people-centered development of the organizations he works with.

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ricardolopez

HR Content Specialist

Non-work related accident: what it is, causes and how it’s managed within the company.