Electronic sick leave for quarantine and illness: registration, calculation of the amount and payment to the employee

Introductory information

Let us remind you that changes in legislation that made it possible to receive sick leave certificates electronically came into force in July 2021 (Federal Law dated 01.05.17 No. 86-FZ).
And at the end of 2017, by-laws were adopted regulating the procedure for issuing electronic certificates of incapacity for work (ELN), as well as the Rules for electronic interaction between Social Insurance Fund bodies, employers and medical organizations (approved by Decree of the Government of the Russian Federation of December 16, 2017 No. 1567; hereinafter referred to as Decree No. 1567 ). It took some time to “test” the system for the formation of electronic sick leave, and at the end of 2021 - beginning of 2021, the FSS began an active information campaign aimed at introducing electronic sick leave into business practice.

Closing a regular sick leave

A standard sample of a temporary disability certificate must be signed by the doctor providing treatment. Further, without fail, the document is certified by a number of seals:

• personal seal of the lying doctor;
• triangular;
• official seal.

The procedure for filling out a medical document, issuing an extract and closing a BL is regulated by the following legislative norms:

1. Order of the Ministry of Health and Social Development “On approval of the form of the certificate of incapacity for work” N347 dated April 26, 2011.
2. Order of the Ministry of Health and Social Development “On approval of the procedure for issuing certificates of incapacity for work” N624n dated June 29, 2011.
3. Federal Law on Amendments to Certain Legal Documents N86н dated May 1, 2021.
4. Federal Law on Employee Disability Insurance N255 of December 25, 2006 (Article 13).
5. Government resolution on interaction between the policyholder, the insurer and the medical institution N1567 of December 16, 2021.

Compliance with these legislative norms is mandatory on the territory of the Russian Federation.

What is an electronic certificate of incapacity for work?

As you know, sick leave benefits are calculated on the basis of a certificate of temporary incapacity for work, which is issued to a sick employee by a medical organization. According to Article 13 of Federal Law No. 255-FZ dated December 29, 2006 (as amended in force on July 1, 2017), a medical institution can generate sick leave both in the form of a paper document and in electronic form without duplicating it on paper.

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ENL is a full-fledged document that has the same legal force as a traditional paper sick leave. At the same time, the technology for issuing an electronic certificate of incapacity for work does not provide for either printing it out for transmission by the employee to the employer, or sending it directly from the medical organization to the employer via TKS. All interaction between a sick employee, a medical institution and an employer takes place with the participation of the Social Insurance Fund through an information system specially created for this purpose, which is called the “Unified Integrated Information System “Social Insurance””. In this system, ELNs are formed and stored at all stages of working with them.

IMPORTANT. All medical organizations, both public and private, have the right to create sick leave certificates electronically using the Social Insurance Unified Information System. Consequently, ELN can be issued not only by clinics or hospitals to which employees apply as part of compulsory medical insurance, but by medical organizations (including private ones) with which the employer has entered into VHI agreements in favor of its employees.

How does an electronic sick leave work?

An electronic sick leave certificate (electronic sick leave) is a special certificate that confirms the very fact that an employee is being treated for a certain disease, which has caused the employee to be unable to do his job for some time.

The email also includes situations related to pregnancy, caring for someone close to the employee, and quarantine. This document is opened to the employee by the doctor based on the examination, which confirms that the patient actually needs a course of treatment. If a few years ago sick leave forms were filled out exclusively on paper, then in 2021, at the initiative of the patient, an electronic version is allowed. At the same time, a paper version is also available for registration.

If we consider the main characteristics of an electronic document, we can note the absence of any fundamental differences from a paper document. The only difference is registration, storage and transfer to the place of request in electronic form . Currently, electronic registration is available in all medical institutions connected to the special Social Insurance system. If the hospital where the employee went does not have such access, then they will only be able to offer him a paper sick leave certificate.

The standard procedure for issuing an email is as follows:

1. After the employee has applied to a medical institution, the doctor, in a special FSS application, prepares an electronic sick leave certificate, which adds information about the progress of the treatment process.
2. After the treatment is completed, the doctor notifies the patient about a special electronic account number and transfers a copy of the document to the Social Insurance application.
3. After recovery, the employee provides a special email number to the accountant at the place of work.
4. In the accounting department, using the number provided by the employee, they open an electronic version of the sick leave certificate in the Social Insurance information database and fill out the corresponding part of the document. Then the accountant sends the email to the Social Insurance Fund.
5. After the FSS receives the document, its specialist makes calculations and pays all the necessary benefits.

Conditions for switching to ELN

Based on Article 13 of Law No. 255-FZ, a sick leave certificate is issued electronically to a sick employee only with his written consent. Moreover, if the employee gave such consent, and it later turned out that his employer does not yet work with the ELN, the right to benefits will remain. As explained by specialists from the Federal Social Insurance Fund of Russia, in this case, the medical organization, at the request of the employee, must cancel the ETN and issue him a sick leave certificate on paper (letter dated 08/11/17 No. 02-09-11/22-05-13462).

ATTENTION. For employers, the transition to ENL is also voluntary. No liability has been established for those who do not gain access to the Social Insurance Unified Information System and will not be able to work with the new format of sick leave. Likewise, no “bonuses” are provided (exemption from inspections, faster reimbursement of expenses, etc.) for those who connect to the electronic sick leave system.

To start working with the new system, you need to perform a number of actions. First, it is necessary to conclude an agreement on information interaction with the regional office of the FSS.

Secondly, you need to purchase an enhanced qualified electronic signature (if you don’t already have one). You also need to install a special program on the computers of employees working with electronic signatures to verify electronic signatures and protect information.

Receive an enhanced qualified electronic signature certificate in an hour

Finally, thirdly, it is necessary to select the software with which the organization will work with ENL. Currently, there are three options for such software (subparagraph “a” of paragraph 10 of the Rules, approved by Resolution No. 1567). Thus, you can use software provided by the state: the policyholder’s personal account on the Social Insurance Fund website with access through the state portal, available on the Fund’s website.

You can also use special accounting services that have the ability to work with electronic sick leave. For example, all actions necessary to work with ENL can be performed in the system for preparing and sending reports “Kontur.Extern”.

Work with electronic sick leave and submit all related reporting through Kontur.Extern

Next, you need to inform all employees that the organization has switched to working with ENL. In particular, it should be explained to employees that they can now demand that medical institutions issue sick leave in electronic form, which will undoubtedly save them time.

How to find EBL on State Services: step-by-step instructions

There is no such option directly on the State Services website. You will not find it in any section of the service, so you will not be able to find your EBL on this site. Having a verified account provides access to the service provided by the Social Insurance Fund website. By logging into the FSS portal using your Gosulug credentials, you will have access to the necessary information.

Electronic document flow in the field of issuing sick leave guarantees the confidentiality of information and its safety in the database. This reduces the time for transmitting information from medical institutions to the Social Insurance Fund, and speeds up their processing by employers.

Before issuing sick leave electronically, check with your employer whether he is connected to the Social Insurance Fund website and whether he works with EBL.

An EBL issued at a medical institution is automatically entered into the FSS database. Owners of personal accounts on the State Services portal can find it, view the information, and print it if necessary. To find sick leave through State Services, follow the step-by-step instructions:

• Open the Internet, enter the address www.fss.ru in the search bar. This is the official website of the Social Insurance Fund;
• On the main page in the right panel there are tabs, scroll down and select “Personal account of the recipient of social services”, click on it;
• You will be redirected to the familiar login window on the State Services portal. Fill in your login information and click “Login”;
• When logging into your personal account for the first time, you will need to check the “I agree” box. By doing this you consent to the processing of personal information. Click on “Continue”;
• After authorization, a personal account will open on the FSS website. The top menu bar has a tab “Certificates of Incapacity for Work”, click on it;
• Sick leave certificates issued electronically are presented in a list. Select the EBL you are interested in, click on it;
• Please review the information included in it. The status of the sheet is also indicated here.

If necessary, you can always print it by clicking on the “Print” button, or save it electronically. In addition, it is possible to receive notifications about its status. When you open an EBL, the service will offer such a service. Enter your email address and stay updated on the movement of the certificate of incapacity for work.

How to get ELN

Let's consider what steps a sick employee must take in order to receive an electronic sick leave certificate. As already mentioned, such a certificate of incapacity for work is issued only upon a written application from the employee. This means that you need to inform your attending physician about your desire to receive an ELN and receive the appropriate application form from him. The employee must also inform the medical institution about SNILS.

After the doctor “closes” the sick leave, the medical organization will generate an electronic certificate of incapacity for work in the Unified IIS “Sotsstrakh”, and fill out its part in it (clause 3 and subclause “b” of clause 10 of the Rules, approved by Resolution No. 1567) . Next, the employee will receive a special coupon from the doctor, where the ELN number will be indicated. There is no need to collect additional signatures from medical workers or affix the medical institution’s seal to the sick leave form.

IMPORTANT. A coupon issued to an employee with an ELN number is not a strict reporting document. There is no need to give it to the employer - just give the sick leave number indicated on the coupon. As reported on the FSS website, this can be done in any way, including by telephone or via email. The coupon, where this number is indicated, is not a mandatory document for calculating and paying for sick leave. The employer should neither require it from the employee nor wait for the employee to provide it.

If an employee loses a ticket, he will need to take the following actions. First, register on the government services website, and then go to your personal account on the FSS website, where he can see the number of his electronic sick leave.

How to view ELN on the FSS website

On the FSS website there is an office of the insured person, an office of the policyholder and an office of medical and social examination (MSE). At certain stages of the formation of a sick leave certificate, access is granted to processors involved in entering data, calculating payment amounts and checking the correctness of registration. Access is provided on a first-come, first-served basis as the disease progresses and reasons to make adjustments arise. When getting acquainted with personal accounts on the FSS website, consider the test version by logging into your account under a test account. Employees involved in calculating sick leave payments must freely navigate the policyholder’s personal account.

Instructions for working with ENL for employers

As soon as the employee has received information about the electronic sick leave number, the employer must begin taking the actions necessary to pay for it. First, using the selected software, you need to find this sick leave in the Social Insurance Unified Insurance Database. The search is carried out using the number provided by the employee and his SNILS.

After the electronic sick leave certificate has been found, it must be requested from the FSS database. In the received ENL, you need to fill in all the columns of the section “To be filled out by the employer” (subclause “c” of paragraph 11 of the Rules, approved by Resolution No. 1567). In their content, these columns are no different from the columns of a similar section of the paper version of the certificate of incapacity for work.

The completed document must be saved and certified with an electronic signature. After this, the data will automatically go to the Social Insurance Fund, and the employer will be able to pay benefits. This algorithm is valid in regions that have not yet switched to direct payments from the Social Insurance Fund as part of a pilot project (see “38 more regions will join the Social Insurance Fund pilot project for payment of benefits”).

Create electronic registers and submit them to the Social Insurance Fund via the Internet

From the message on the FSS website it follows that it is not necessary to print out the electronic tax record or create a copy of it on the employee’s computer or the organization’s server. Likewise, there is no need to store any information for each specific electronic sick leave.

The ELN benefit must be assigned within 10 calendar days from the day the employee presented his number (Clause 1, Article 15 of Law No. 255-FZ). The procedure for paying for electronic sick leave in those regions where the Social Insurance Fund has not yet assumed this responsibility is no different from paying for a traditional paper certificate of incapacity for work. The employer calculates the amount of the benefit and indicates it in the appropriate columns of the section of the certificate of incapacity for work that he fills out. The ELN benefit, as well as the paper sick leave benefit, must be paid along with the next salary (Clause 1, Article 15 of Law No. 255-FZ).

Electronic sick leave in 2021: employer actions

We will tell you in detail how to obtain an electronic sick leave certificate for your employer.

Receipt

The development of virtual technologies has not had time to capture everyone. Some companies are not equipped with programs for receiving and paying for electronic sick leave. If an employee claims to have received a virtual image of the sick leave certificate, then do not panic, wondering what the employer should do with the electronic sick leave certificate. Send the employee back to the medical facility to reissue the form in paper form.

To understand how to accept electronic sick leave, the employer should create his own personal account on the Social Insurance Fund website. On the main page of the site, find the authorization field and click the “Login” button. A company representative can log in using the login and password from the State Services website, or by clicking the registration button and creating a new login and password.

To establish a connection with the electronic sick leave database, you need:

• suitable software from the employer and medical institution;
• the employer must register in the Unified Identification and Authentication System (USIA);
• the employer must provide an electronic signature certificate.

The ESIA gives users access to secure databases stored in the state information environment. The database can be entered using electronic means or an electronic signature. If the conditions are met, the employer will receive the employee’s sick leave certificate from the Social Insurance Fund in his personal account upon completion of the employee’s treatment.

Filling

You can find out how to fill out an electronic sick leave for your employer in the electronic sick leave system itself. Using a computer program, the employer, if necessary, changes and fills out the electronic sick leave in his personal account. An authorized representative of the employer has the right to fill it out: personnel officer, director, manager, accountant. Each person interacting with the sick leave must be registered in the system and have an individual digital signature.

To find a certificate of incapacity for work in the system, you need to know its number, which the employee must report. In the electronic system, in the “Electronic certificates of incapacity for work” tab, the employer will find information about the employee, data on his sick leave: number, start and end date of the period of incapacity for work. In the “Status” field, the employer will also find information about the status of the sick leave: “Filled out by the policyholder” or “Benefit paid.”

Medical workers, like employees of the Social Insurance Fund, may make mistakes when filling out. If the employer notices this, then he should send his employee back to the doctor for a new form of sick leave. The FSS will destroy the incorrect form, fill out a new one and send it to the employer.

If it is not clear how to check an electronic sick leave certificate online by number, the employer should return to the main page of the system. The home page contains tools for tracking the status of sick leave: registries and data exchangers.

Payment

In the “To be completed by the employer” field, you should write down the calculation of benefits. After filling out, the sick leave certificate is sent to the Social Insurance Fund, namely to its branch at the employer’s location. The FSS, using this information, will check the benefit and accrue it.

How the accrual will take place is determined by the practice of a particular region of Russia. Some regions are included in the list of the Social Insurance Fund project, which pays benefits directly to the employee. In other regions, benefits are calculated and issued by the employer. The accountant's actions will vary in different cases.

If an offset system is in effect, then the amount of the cash payment should be calculated and given to the employee along with the first salary after illness. Expenses incurred by the company are used as a deduction in social insurance contributions or to request reimbursement from the Social Insurance Fund. To receive a refund, contact the Social Insurance Fund and submit a certificate-invoice. If direct payments are available in the region, then you should calculate the average monthly earnings in the electronic service, fill out an application to the Social Insurance Fund in electronic form and send it to the Social Insurance Fund. After some time, the FSS will pay the benefit by transfer.

How to print ELN

The employer must know how to print an electronic sick leave form. Having entered the ELN system, he must go to the list of sick leaves. Having found the one you need, click “Get LN”. Next, click on the print button.

Pros and cons of electronic sick leave

For policyholders, the transition to electronic insurance has undoubted advantages. These include:

• complete protection against payment for fake sick leave. The authenticity of the ELN is checked by the FSS at the stage of issuing the document by the medical institution. This means that the employer, when requesting an electronic sick leave using the number provided by the employee, receives a document for payment that has already been verified and approved by the Fund;
• no need to store sick leave certificates and present them during inspections. All information about ELN is always at the disposal of the FSS, which can check it without the participation of the organization. This means that you will not have to present electronic sick leave certificates during inspections. This is confirmed on the FSS website.

There are also conveniences for workers who issue electronic sick leaves. They can receive the appropriate payment faster, since in order to assign a benefit, they do not need to give the original document to the employer, but only need to provide its number. In addition, the electronic form of sick leave makes it impossible to lose or damage it. Finally, in the ENL there simply cannot be errors in indicating information about the employer, since the medical institution takes all the information from the Social Insurance Fund database.

As for the disadvantages of switching to a new system, perhaps the most significant of them at the moment is the lack of regulation of the procedure for correcting errors made by the employer when filling out his part of the electronic tax record. FSS specialists note that changes are not made to the electronic sick leave certificate itself, and all corrections are reflected “on paper” and stored by the employer. At the same time, software tools for working with electronic sick leave allow for correction of information in the electronic sick leave, including after the benefit has already been paid.

REFERENCE. The rules for making changes to the ENL are contained in the draft order of the Ministry of Health of Russia “On approval of the Procedure for generating certificates of incapacity for work in the form of an electronic document.” It provides for the possibility of re-sending a corrected electronic sick leave to the Social Insurance Unified Insurance System. In this case, the reason for the correction and the justification for the changes made must be indicated. All documents must be certified with the employer’s digital signature (clause 52 of the draft order).

Also, difficulties when working with electronic devices may arise due to technical failures in the functioning of the corresponding electronic systems. This leads to the inability to receive an electronic sick leave by number, fill it out or send it, etc. Judging by the information posted on the FSS website, errors in the operation of systems are quickly eliminated.

How can anyone view an electronic sick leave certificate?

The electronic document is available for viewing by both the employer and his employee. Here it is necessary to take into account the confidentiality of the information provided. So the employer will not see individual points of the sick leave (for example, the employer does not have access to information about the illness of his employee, which became the basis for the electronic message).

An employee will be able to gain access to viewing an electronic document if he performs the following sequential steps:

1. Will go through the registration procedure on the State Services website in accordance with a unified algorithm (involvement of primary authorization, for which you will need a login and password; then you need to fill out information about yourself, and then you will need to go through authentication by choosing the appropriate method, etc.).
2. After completing the first step, you need to open the official website of the FSS, and there find the “Personal Account” item. Another option is to go directly to the following hyperlink: https://cabinets.fss.ru
3. In the window that appears, select the “Account of the insured person” item to log in using the password and login previously received for the State website class=”aligncenter” width=”1100″ height=”513″[/img]
4. If you correctly enter your password and login, a special window will appear in which you can see all the data on the services provided by the Social Insurance Fund (primarily, these are various benefits - for maternity, disability, unemployment, etc.). From here you can search and then print a copy of the email.

5. It should be taken into account that using the account of the insured person it is possible to clarify the ETN number. It will need to be transferred to the employer in order to receive temporary disability benefits. So, if you lose the corresponding number received from the doctor, you can find it and write it down in your FSS personal account. It should be taken into account that using the FSS personal account you can see and send an electronic document for printing. It is not possible to make any changes to it.

Practical conclusions

Let's summarize. The transition to working with electronic certificates of incapacity for work has positive aspects both for the employer (the risks of receiving fake sick leave are eliminated, as well as loss of documents during storage), and for employees (they can receive benefits faster). The disadvantages of working with ENL are currently associated with the technical side of the issue and the lack of sufficient regulation of some procedural issues. To eliminate these problems, new regulatory documents are being developed, the technical base is being improved and finalized.

In any case, today every employer has the right to decide on the issue of switching to ENL independently. If an organization does not want to use electronic sick leave, it can continue to assign benefits solely on the basis of paper certificates of incapacity for work. Current legislation does not oblige employers to provide work with electronic sick leave certificates, and does not establish any liability for those policyholders who have not connected to the Social Insurance Unified Insurance System.

Registration of an electronic certificate of incapacity for work

An electronic document documenting the employee’s incapacity for work is opened by a representative of the medical institution according to the following scheme:

1. When visiting a sick doctor, the sick employee expresses his desire to receive an electronic form of a certificate of incapacity for work. At the same time, he must prepare in advance information about his employer, who has the ability to exchange digital data. You must have a passport and SNILS medical insurance policy with you.
2. The attending physician sends a request to the unified Social Insurance system to assign an individual number to the document.
3. Using special software, system employees fill out the EBL, and the document number is communicated to the insured person.
4. The completed version of the electronic document is certified by the doctor with a digital electronic signature (digital electronic signature).
5. Next, the EBL is certified by the head of the medical institution, after which the document is sent back to Social Insurance.

Important! Any changes in the patient’s condition, the prescription of special treatment and other information are reflected in the EBL as necessary. When closing an electronic certificate of incapacity for work, it is also certified by the EPC of the underlying doctor, the head of the medical institution and the Social Insurance system.

Registration of an electronic sick leave certificate is free of charge. All personal data of the patient is strictly confidential and is protected without the possibility of access by unauthorized persons.