Travelling while on sick leave (baja): what the law says and the risks
Summonses from the INSS or the mutua, treatment, working during sick leave, dismissal and what to do if you fall ill outside Spain: what to know before the holidays.
Travelling while on sick leave (baja) is not among the grounds that the General Social Security Act (Ley General de la Seguridad Social) lists for withdrawing the temporary incapacity benefit, but a trip can cost you the benefit. This happens if it stops you attending a medical summons from the INSS (Instituto Nacional de la Seguridad Social, the Spanish social security institute) or the mutua (Mutua colaboradora con la Seguridad Social), if you abandon the prescribed treatment, if you work during sick leave, or if the leave is used to obtain or keep the benefit fraudulently. Before the Christmas holidays, check your appointments and your treatment. And remember: a private medical certificate, ours included, is not a baja.
Temporary incapacity
Can you travel while on sick leave? What the law says
Medical sick leave (baja) is, in legal terms, a situation of temporary incapacity (incapacidad temporal, IT): you are unable to work and you receive healthcare from Social Security.
Article 169 of the General Social Security Act (LGSS) sets a maximum duration of 365 days, extendable by a further 180 days when discharge on recovery is expected. During that time, article 175 states when the benefit can be denied, cancelled or suspended:
- When the beneficiary has acted fraudulently to obtain or keep the benefit.
- When they work, for themselves or for an employer.
- When, without reasonable cause, they refuse or abandon the treatment prescribed.
- When they do not attend a summons from INSS or mutua doctors for examination and assessment.
Travel is not on that list. The useful question is not whether you can leave your city, but whether the trip makes you breach one of these four obligations.
Source: LGSS, articles 169 and 175 (BOE).
Benefit
The real risks of travelling on sick leave
One clear risk of a holiday during sick leave is missing a summons from the INSS or the mutua.
Summonses and medical examinations
If you do not attend a call-up from INSS or mutua doctors, your right to the benefit is suspended as a precaution while it is checked whether the absence was justified (art. 175.3 LGSS). If it was not, the right is extinguished (art. 174.1 LGSS). The Law on Infringements and Sanctions in the Social Order (LISOS) classes failure to attend these examinations without justified cause as a serious infringement and, in temporary incapacity, punishes it with extinction of the benefit (arts. 25.2 and 47.1.b).
Treatment
Refusing or abandoning the prescribed treatment without reasonable cause can suspend the benefit (art. 175.2 LGSS). If you go away for a few days, take your medication, keep up any rehabilitation or instructions you have, and do not miss the check-ups for your sick leave.
Working during sick leave
Working for yourself or for an employer while receiving the benefit can lead to losing it (art. 175.1.b LGSS) and is a serious infringement under LISOS (art. 25.1). The law does not distinguish between regular employment and a few odd days of work in the high season.
Fraud
Using sick leave to obtain or extend the benefit improperly, for example with false data or documents, is a very serious infringement (art. 26.1 LISOS).
Sources: LGSS, articles 174 and 175 (BOE); LISOS, articles 25, 26 and 47 (BOE).
Practical checklist
Before travelling on sick leave: a practical checklist
There is no official list of permitted trips. These checks reduce the risk of a problem with the benefit.
- Check your appointments. Do not schedule the trip over a review of your sick leave or an INSS or mutua examination.
- Be reachable. If you are summoned while away, you need to find out in time and be able to justify your absence or attend.
- Keep up your treatment. Take enough medication and your rehabilitation instructions or exercises.
- Consistency with your diagnosis. Resting at your family’s home is not the same as demanding physical activity with a back injury. Ask yourself whether what you will do helps you or sets you back.
- Do not work, not even for a few hours.
- Keep your medical reports in case you need to prove your situation or receive care during the trip.
Our doctor can assess by video call whether the journey fits your health and your treatment. That clinical opinion does not change, confirm or end your sick leave.
Sources: LGSS, article 175 (BOE); LISOS, article 25 (BOE).
Holidays
Sick leave and Christmas holidays: family visits and getaways
In December many people on sick leave consider spending the holidays with family in another city or in their home country.
The law does not distinguish between a short and a long trip, or between Christmas Eve at your parents’ house and a getaway. What counts is the same as always: that you remain unable to work, that you keep up your treatment, that you do not work and that you do not miss any summons.
Two points specific to this time of year:
- Before leaving, check whether you have any review or summons pending on those dates and change the trip if they coincide.
- If the trip is abroad, also read the next section in case you fall ill there.
If what worries you is how much you will be paid during sick leave, we explain it in how much you are paid on sick leave and who pays.
Outside Spain
If you fall ill outside Spain during the trip
The INSS instructions explain what to do when a person insured in Spain starts sick leave abroad.
If you are in an EU country, the European Economic Area, Switzerland or the United Kingdom, you must see a doctor or hospital in that country’s health network. They will issue a medical certificate that must include:
- Your details: first name, surnames and date of birth.
- The dates of the episode or its expected duration.
- The diagnosis, with its ICD-10 code or described in words.
- The doctor’s signature and stamp, on the country’s official form if there is one.
You have 10 days to send that certificate, with your full personal details, to the Provincial Directorate of the INSS for the province where your employer is registered. You can do so through the Social Security platform that does not require a digital certificate, through the electronic office (sede electrónica) or by ordinary post; email is not accepted. After that, you must send the confirmation reports within the same period and, at the end, the discharge report. If you do not send them, the INSS suspends payment.
The same applies in countries with a bilateral agreement that covers temporary incapacity: Andorra, Australia, Chile, Ecuador, the Philippines, Morocco, Paraguay, Peru, the Dominican Republic, Russia, Tunisia, Ukraine and Venezuela.
These instructions refer to sick leave that starts abroad. If you are already on sick leave in Spain and plan to leave the country, bear in mind the obligations in the previous sections, above all summonses.
Source: INSS, instructions for workers insured in Spain who go on sick leave abroad.
Workers’ Statute
“Can you be dismissed while on sick leave?”: what the law says
Being on sick leave does not on its own prevent a dismissal, but dismissing someone for being ill is discriminatory.
- Objective dismissal for absences has been repealed. Law 1/2020 repealed that ground, which was in letter d) of article 52 of the Workers’ Statute.
- Illness is a prohibited ground of discrimination. Law 15/2022 prohibits discrimination on grounds of “illness or health condition” (art. 2.1) and declares acts causing such discrimination null and void (art. 26).
- A discriminatory dismissal is void. Article 55.5 of the Statute declares void a dismissal motivated by a ground of discrimination prohibited by law.
- Not every dismissal during sick leave is void. If the employer proves a real breach unrelated to the illness, the dismissal can be declared justified (art. 55.4).
If the employer believes that what you do during sick leave shows you are not ill or that it delays your recovery, it may allege a breach of contractual good faith, one of the grounds for disciplinary dismissal (art. 54.2.d). If you challenge it, a judge will decide whether there was a breach and how the dismissal is classified.
Sources: Workers’ Statute, articles 52, 54 and 55 (BOE); Law 15/2022, articles 2 and 26 (BOE).
Important
Our medical certificate is not a baja
We say it plainly: in Spain, Global Health does not issue sick leave (bajas). A private medical certificate is not an official sick-leave report for temporary incapacity.
- We do not issue sick-leave, confirmation or discharge reports. Temporary incapacity reports are issued by the doctor of the public health service or, for occupational contingencies, by the mutua’s doctor.
- Our certificate does not entitle you to a benefit. The temporary incapacity benefit requires the official report.
- It records a consultation. It is a clinical document signed by a registered doctor that records the consultation and the clinical assessment. We issue it only when it is clinically indicated.
- It is not retroactive. We do not certify periods of illness that the doctor did not assess at the time.
- The employer decides. We cannot guarantee that an employer will accept it; it depends on your collective agreement and internal policy.
If you need to justify a short absence, you can see what our online medical certificate offers.
Sources: Global Health, online medical certificate; Global Health, online medical consultation.
Global Health
What our online medical consultation can do for you
Although we do not issue sick leave, our online medical consultation helps you look after yourself during sick leave and when travelling. A doctor registered in Spain sees you by video call, with a same-day appointment subject to availability.
- Assessment. Reviews your symptoms, your progress and your medication, and tells you whether the trip fits your health.
- Warning signs. Identifies what cannot wait.
- Prescription. If clinically indicated, can issue a private electronic prescription, for example if you run out of medication before a trip.
- Tests and referral. Can request laboratory tests or imaging and refer you to a specialist.
- Private medical certificate when clinically indicated, which does not replace the sick-leave report.
Some problems need a physical examination in person; if that is your case, the doctor will tell you.
Next step
Talk to a doctor before you travel
Book your online medical consultation or read our guide on what you are paid on sick leave.
- Online medical consultation
- Meet our doctors
- How much you are paid on sick leave and who pays
- Health blog
Questions about your health before travelling?
Book your online medical consultation with a doctor registered in Spain: video-call assessment, a private prescription when indicated and a clear plan. We do not issue sick-leave reports.
Sources
Sources and editorial review
Sources consulted and checked on 8 November 2026.
The articles cited come from the consolidated BOE texts consulted on the date indicated, and the procedure abroad from INSS instructions. Information about our service comes from our online medical consultation and online medical certificate pages. This article is not legal advice and does not replace your doctor’s assessment.
Frequently asked questions
Questions about travelling while on sick leave
Can I travel while on sick leave?
Travel is not among the grounds for losing or suspending the benefit in article 175 of the LGSS. You can lose it if you do not attend a summons from the INSS or the mutua, abandon treatment, work or act fraudulently.
What happens if the INSS or the mutua summons me and I am away?
The benefit is suspended as a precaution while it is checked whether the absence was justified. If it was not, it is extinguished. That is why you should check your appointments before leaving and be reachable.
Can I be dismissed for being on sick leave?
Dismissing someone because of illness is discriminatory and the dismissal can be declared void (Law 15/2022 and art. 55.5 of the Workers’ Statute). A dismissal for other real reasons can be justified. For your case, consult an employment lawyer.
What do I do if I fall ill in another EU country?
Ask the doctor or hospital in that country’s health network for a medical certificate and send it within 10 days to the Provincial Directorate of the INSS, with your details. Then send the confirmation reports and the discharge report.
Does your medical certificate count as a baja?
No. Our private medical certificate is not a sick-leave report for temporary incapacity and does not entitle you to a benefit. We do not issue sick leave in Spain, nor confirmation or discharge reports.
