Estar de baja

Estar de baja commonly means to be on sick leave or to be officially off work because of an illness or injury. This expression is especially common in Spain.

How to use

Use estar de baja to describe someone’s current work status.

• Estoy de baja esta semana. — I am on sick leave this week.
• Marta está de baja por una lesión en la espalda. — Marta is off work because of a back injury.
• Mi compañero lleva dos semanas de baja. — My colleague has been on sick leave for two weeks.

A common structure is:

• estar de baja por + illness / injury
• llevar + period of time + de baja

When a doctor confirms that someone can return to work, they can dar el alta.

• El médico le dio el alta ayer. — The doctor medically cleared her to return yesterday.

Estar de baja

vs

darse de baja

Do not confuse estar de baja with darse de baja.

• estar de baja → to be on sick leave
• darse de baja → to unsubscribe, cancel a service or membership, or remove yourself from a register

For example:

• Estoy de baja por una lesión. — I am on sick leave because of an injury.
• Me di de baja del gimnasio. — I cancelled my gym membership.

Quick rule

Use estar de baja when someone is temporarily off work for medical reasons; use dar el alta when they are medically cleared to return.