EFZG §3 spell linking#
For: Manager | Admin You’ll need: A spell-tracking sick-leave policy with aggregation scope ‘Per PIW (admin-linked)’ and a linking window. See Tracking modes — balance, spell, and unlimited.
Under the German Continued Pay Act (EFZG §3), if someone is sick again with the same illness within a defined window after their last sick day, the new absence isn’t a fresh entitlement — it’s a continuation of the original spell. Shiftavo models this with a per-policy linking window and a checkbox on the review form.
What it means#
A spell is one continuous illness, possibly made of several absences. The continued-pay clock runs against the spell, not the calendar.
The ‘Linking window (days)’ on the policy is the cooling-off period: how many days must pass between the end of the last spell and the start of the new request before Shiftavo treats them as separate spells.
New request starts inside the window after a prior spell → candidate for linking. Shiftavo shows an alert below the review form with a checkbox to confirm.
New request starts outside the window → fresh spell; no alert.
The prompt only ever appears on policies whose ‘Aggregation scope’ is ‘Per PIW (admin-linked)’ — the scope where linking is your call. The other scopes never ask:
‘Per PIW (auto-linked by window)’ (for example the seeded GB SSP policy, 56 days) merges qualifying absences automatically, without a prompt.
‘Per service year (cumulative)’ (the seeded Swiss Art. 324a CO policy) has no linking window at all — spells accumulate against the service-year ceiling regardless of gaps.
How it shows in the app#
When you open a sick-leave request to review and a prior spell falls inside the linking window, an alert renders below the form with a checkbox: ‘Link to previous illness (same cause)’. Tick it to mark this absence as a continuation; leave it unticked to start a new spell.
Your choice is recorded on the leave request itself — not on a ledger transaction — so the request explains the continued-pay calculation later.
For the step-by-step on actually linking a request, see How to link a sick request to a prior illness.
Worked example#
A policy with aggregation scope ‘Per PIW (admin-linked)’ and a linking window of 180 days. Ben’s last confirmed sick request ended on 10 February.
He files a new sick request starting 1 June — 111 days later, inside the window. The review form shows the alert and the checkbox. Tick it and the 6-week continued-pay clock keeps running from February; leave it clear and a fresh 6 weeks starts.
Had he filed it starting 1 October — 233 days later — no alert appears and the spell is automatically fresh.
Verify it worked#
Open a sick-leave request that starts inside the linking window on a ‘Per PIW (admin-linked)’ policy. The alert renders below the form with the ‘Link to previous illness (same cause)’ checkbox. On any other aggregation scope, or outside the window, there is no alert at all.