The right of paid sick leave as social insurance right and the coronavirus pandemic

As an integral part of a comprehensive social security system, the COVID-19 crisis drew major attention to the relevance of sickness benefits. Paid sick leave – the right to paid time off when a worker is too ill to work or to enable a worker to care for an ill family member – is enshrined under human rights law. Sick leave (or paid sick days or sick pay) is paid time off from work that workers can use to stay home to address their health needs without losing pay. Sick leave can include a mental health day and taking time away from work to go to a scheduled doctor's appointment. It has played a key role in protecting incomes, health and jobs during a health-driven labour market crisis. As social insurance right, paid sick leave can play a role well beyond its core function to protect sick workers during a health pandemic and subsequent economic crisis. The aim of the paper is to analyze the challenges of paid sick leave throughout the coronavirus pandemic in the Republic of North Macedonia. The paper concludes that paid sick leave as social insurance right can be a particularly effective tool during the pandemic