Many workers believe that for each day of medical leave resulting from a work accident, 37 euros in compensation are paid, but that figure is not correct. Labor lawyer Víctor Arpa explains what the law says and why not taking it into account can cost a difference of more than 15,000 euros in 18 months of sick leave.
“The 37 euros correspond to the basic damage, but it is not what is applied when you are on medical leave without being able to work,” warns Arpa. A 40-year-old worker who injures his back on a construction site and spends a year and a half without being able to return to his job is not in the same situation as someone who goes to rehabilitation but continues to lead a normal life. And the confusion arises from mixing two categories of the damage assessment scale (the official table that sets how much is paid for each type of injury) that are completely different.
The basic damage compensates the days in which the injured person is undergoing treatment but can lead a normal life (in 2026, the updated amount is 39.20 euros per day according to the Resolution of February 3, 2026 of the General Directorate of Insurance). Now, when the worker cannot carry out his work activity, the law establishes a higher grade.
What article 138 of Law 35/2015 says
Article 138.5 of Law 35/2015, reforming the damage assessment system in traffic accidents, is clear and establishes that the impediment to carrying out work or professional activity is redirected, at a minimum, to moderate personal harm. That is, if a worker is on medical leave and cannot work, the daily compensation can never be calculated with the amount of the basic damage.
“When you cannot work due to an injury, we are facing moderate damage,” explains Arpa. And in 2026, the day of moderate damage is paid at 67.96 euros, almost double the 37 euros. “37 euros is not the same as almost 68 euros a day,” insists the lawyer.
This scale, although created for traffic accidents, is usually applied by the courts as a reference for calculating compensation in workplace accidents (in which civil liability of the employer or third parties is involved). The 2026 update has meant an increase of 2.9% compared to the previous year in all tables of the scale.
The real difference in 18 months of sick leave
Víctor explains that if a worker remains on medical leave for 18 months after a work accident (the ordinary maximum for temporary disability), the calculation with the erroneous figure results in about 21,364 euros. But if the moderate damage is correctly applied at 67.96 euros per day, the compensation amounts to 37,208 euros.
“The difference is enormous,” says Arpa. There are almost 16,000 euros that the worker stops claiming if he uses the wrong amount or if he accepts a calculation that does not correspond to him. And the problem, according to the lawyer, is that many people do not know what category of damage they are in and accept the settlements without questioning them.
A worker who suffers a work accident and remains on sick leave has the right, at a minimum, to have each day of work impediment assessed as moderate harm, according to the law. And this is independent of the temporary disability benefit paid by the mutual insurance company or Social Security during the sick leave, which is a different concept.
“That is why it is so important to do the calculations correctly and understand what type of damage you are in,” concludes Arpa. Workers who have suffered a work accident and accepted a settlement calculated with the amount of the basic damage can claim the difference before the labor court, provided that the period of one year from the medical discharge or the stabilization of the consequences has not expired.