How to check a sick leave certificate for authenticity in 2021 on the FSS website online

Author of the article: Yulia Kaysina Last modified: January 2021 20438

Sometimes unscrupulous employees, trying to justify their absence without a good reason, present the employer with a fake certificate of incapacity for work. The organization pays for it, and after some time the FSS reports that the document is invalid and refuses to pay for it. To avoid this problem, the employer can check sick leave. An employee may also need this option, for example, to control accrued payments.

When is employer verification necessary?

There is no specific deadline for the employer to verify sick leave. But the sooner he does this, the better .
After all, if a fake is discovered, the employer will be obliged to answer for the false sheet independently. The surest way to start checking is immediately after the employee submits this document. By checking the forms, you can easily identify a fake visually.

Verification procedure

How is sick leave checked at work? You need to understand that this document is a strict reporting form. Each form is entered into a specialized database. So it is almost impossible to buy this document legally or ask a doctor to issue it.

Most likely, it will not be entered into the database, and thus will not be paid for from public funds.

There are several ways to determine the authenticity of a document:

1. The document is published in the form of a standard form. In 2011, there were changes in appearance and the sick leave was completely changed. Previously, the form was in A5 size, now it is A4 size. In addition, the color and shape have changed.
   Any the form has a unique number consisting of 12 digits, blue-yellow color scheme. All fields must be filled out exclusively in capital letters using a black fountain or spruce pen. Alternatively, the document can be filled out on a computer. All these requirements are needed for quick entry into the electronic database.

   In addition, the certificate of incapacity for work has a watermark and additional color shading. On the new certificate of incapacity for work there is a field where you need to enter the outpatient card number, INN and SNILS. There are also fields on the form that the manager must fill out.

   It is difficult to fake all these points, but it is possible. Although now not only the accountant, but also the manager must sign this document at work. If an employee provides an old-style sick leave certificate after June 1, 2011, then such a document is invalid.

2. The certificate of incapacity for work must be issued and signed by an authorized person (medical worker keeping the medical history).
3. The employer must send any specialist from his department to clarify this data to a specific clinic. There they are required to provide him with a database containing information about a specific certificate of incapacity for work .
4. It is necessary to make an official request to the clinic to confirm the authenticity of the issued sheet. The document can be written like this: “A request to confirm the authenticity of the certificate of incapacity No. that we received...” The request must necessarily include: an attachment in the form of this leaflet, as well as the signature of management and the chief accountant.
5. Send an appeal to the FSS citizens. This institution regulates the verification of information in clinics and hospitals and makes inquiries about the legality of their actions in providing the certificate.
6. Make a request to your own security service , if available. But, as a rule, all self-respecting companies have this structure. Often these employees have connections with law enforcement agencies. Those, in turn, are guided by all the information about hospitals and clinics conducting legitimate activities.

Visual inspection

A certificate of incapacity for work is issued on a special form that has a number of characteristics.

1. The hospital form is bluish in color, darker at the edges. The lines in which data is entered are yellow.
2. Protective fibers. If you look closely, you can distinguish blue, pink and light green fibers on the blank.
3. 12-digit numeric barcode at top right.
4. Hidden text in separate cells intended for signatures of officials. If you look through a magnifying glass, you can see the inscription “certificate of incapacity for work.”
5. A special type of paper. The sick note is issued on thick paper with a characteristic crunch, similar to banknote paper.
6. Water marks. It is worth looking carefully at the white square in the upper left corner of the sheet. The FSS logo should be visible on it.
7. Name of health care facility. The clinic that issued the certificate of incapacity for work must have a license. A list of licensed institutions is available on the Roszdravnadzor website. The search for health care facilities is carried out by name or tax identification number.

Signs of a fake

Employees of the authorized bodies are trying to track the issuance of sick leave, but ask all employers to be on alert, since many clinics issue the document without entering it into the database.
So let's figure out how to distinguish a fake sick leave from a real one? This can be done simply by knowing the signs of a fake:

1. The form completely lacks a watermark with the logo of the Russian Federation Foundation.
2. There is no protection (fibers) of several types: light green, blue and pink.
3. The box where doctors must enter dates for extending sick leave is white.
4. The paper quality does not meet established standards.
5. The name of the medical institution is incorrectly indicated on the document and does not correspond to the data in reality.
6. The presence of gross errors in the sick leave certificate. The period of detention in a medical institution is not indicated, the initials of the medical worker are indicated incorrectly, and such a specialist no longer works in a specific organization.
7. When entering a unique number into the database, the certificate of incapacity for work is not determined.
8. The seals do not correspond to a specific medical institution.

It would be a good idea to read the article “How to write the name of an organization on a sick leave certificate?” in order to be sure that the document is filled out correctly and to avoid subsequent problems.

How to spot a fake

It is the responsibility of the organization's accounting and personnel department to verify the originality of the document within 10 days of its receipt before accruing disability benefits. There are several effective ways to check the authenticity of a sick leave certificate:

• Analyze the correspondence of visual features;
• Make a request to the territorial FSS service;
• Use the FSS database online;
• Request confirmation of authenticity from the medical organization.

The official website of the Social Insurance Fund contains a sample sick leave certificate with a detailed explanation of how to distinguish a fake sick leave certificate from a real one.

Visual cues

Poorly forged forms can be easily identified by visual inspection. Please note the following distinctive features:

1. The watermark is the name and emblem of the organization, as well as two ears of corn. It is located in the middle of the form and is clearly visible.
2. The material is similar to banknotes - it should make a characteristic rustling sound. Counterfeits are usually made on ordinary sheets.
3. The sheet width is 210 mm.
4. The shade of paper is blue, which is more saturated at the edges and paler in the middle of the document. The edges have a purple tint. The cells for entering data are colored yellow, but in counterfeit forms they are most often white.
5. The surface of the form has a background cell everywhere, except for the column for the doctor’s signature.
6. The document has 3 degrees of protection: blue, light green and pink fibers.
7. When illuminated by ultraviolet light, the original form changes colors: blue turns into green, and yellow into red.
8. The front part contains microtext “certificate of incapacity for work” in the columns where the signature of the medical employee, accountant and head of the organization is placed.
9. The number of the certificate of incapacity for work is stamped in the printing house, so it can be easily felt with your fingers. In fakes they are always smooth.
10. The barcode makes it easy to determine the authenticity of a document. You need to identify it in the AWP accounting program. If it is fake, the site will not detect this number.
11. Carefully study the section that is filled out by the doctor. Fraudsters often make mistakes here - they indicate non-existent medical organizations and the names of doctors, and do not note the duration of the illness. The information on the form and on the seal does not match.

If it was not possible to identify the fake in this way, you can check the sick leave certificate by number online on the FSS website.

Official resource of the FSS

The sick leave determines the status of the worker and is the basis for payment of compensation. The HR employee needs to know some of the nuances of checking such a document. At the moment, there are four ways to determine authenticity, but the fastest and easiest is considered to be checking a sick leave certificate on the FSS website.

All people who steal forms cannot enter the sheet data into this database. Therefore, by entering a unique code, you can see its absence and verify that the form was purchased illegally. This information is updated monthly and the HR employee is required to check the data upload information daily.

How to check sick leave in the Social Insurance Fund? All that is required from the employee is to enter the number indicated in the “header” of the form and click “check” .
If the document is reflected, it is genuine. This method is valid, but it is advisable to carry it out in combination with other methods.

What to do if you detect a fake

If the employer was unable to detect the forgery in time, and the document was accepted for accounting, then consequences await him. One of them is that the Federal Social Insurance Fund of the Russian Federation will not reimburse the organization for funds paid to the employee on sick leave.

The employer has the right to withhold funds from the employee’s salary if he received a payment using a counterfeit form.

How to correct a mistake on a sick leave certificate? Who should correct errors?

If an employee was fired, then the organization must pay funds to the Social Insurance Fund of the Russian Federation, and the employee must be held accountable through the court.

Experienced employers know very well the procedure to follow when receiving a fake sick leave from their employee:

• It is necessary to check whether the document was submitted to the organization on time. According to the law “On Compulsory Insurance”, the form must be provided to the company no later than 6 months after the employee has been restored to work;
• After this, the sick leave is transferred to the accounting or personnel department. Upon receipt of the document, its employees carefully check it for compliance with the standard sample, as well as for the presence of corrections and other defects.
• If a department employee doubts that a document is genuine, he initiates a check;
• The employer must ensure that an appeal is submitted to the organization's security service, and that the sick leave certificate is checked on the website of the Federal Social Insurance Fund of the Russian Federation;
• If a counterfeit has been identified, the employee initiating the inspection must inform the employee about it. If he did not know that the form was not real, he must inform his boss about this;
• If the employee is aware that the documents are fake, then the employer can choose a punishment for his employee. This may include filing an application with the prosecutor's office, dismissal due to absenteeism, or a fine.

Check by number

How to check the authenticity of a sick leave certificate by number on the Internet? Any sick leave has its own unique numbering.

It is painted black and has its own protection. For many HR departments, tactile or visual inspection is sufficient to detect counterfeiting.

This number is convex and you can tactually identify each symbol indicated on the form. In a fake it is not felt and is located evenly on the certificate of incapacity for work.

Using this number you can make requests to the FSS website, as well as to clinics and hospitals. But these methods are not limited to just these two. Authenticity is often determined by the details indicated on the sheet.

You may also be interested in the article “Deciphering sick leave certificates,” from which you will learn about other special medical designations in the strict reporting form.

Visual control

According to employees of the Federal Social Insurance Fund of Russia, an accountant with due care will be able to distinguish a “correct” sick leave from a fake without much difficulty.

The first thing you should pay attention to is the quality of the paper and the presence/absence of watermarks on the sick leave. The color of the certificate of incapacity for work should be soft blue and in no case bright blue or bright green. The filled cells are not white (as in fakes), but have a yellowish tint.

If you look at the sick leave certificate against the light, you should see the coat of arms and the inscription of the Federal Social Insurance Fund of Russia. Secondly, the certificate of incapacity for work is always filled out with a black gel pen. The presence of notes in the hospital in ink of any other color is a sure sign of a surrogate.

Third, the certificate of incapacity for work must have two seals, in the center of which it is written: “for certificates of incapacity for work.” In fakes, you can find other wording, for example, “for sick leave.”

Fourth, the barcode in the upper right corner of the form should not be clearly visible on the back of the sick leave.

And fifth, the disability form must certainly contain the full name and signature of the doctor or his identification number.

Determining authenticity in a medical institution

The head of the company where the person who provided the sick leave certificate works has the right to write an official appeal to the clinic to verify the authenticity of the sick leave certificate .

If a medical organization refuses to provide data, then you must submit an application to the Federal Social Insurance Fund.

To draw up an official application, you need to know all the details that must be specified:

1. Name of the clinic or hospital.
2. Personal data of the employee.
3. Details of the organization with legal form.
4. Date of document creation.
5. Other information about the person who wrote the request.
6. Personal signatures of the manager.
7. Applicant's stamp.

Next, a request is written: “I ask you to check document No. for authenticity .

Sample request to a clinic or hospital about the authenticity of a sick leave certificate:

Request to the FSS

How to check the authenticity of sick leave certificates in the Social Insurance Fund? A request is made in free form with a request for examination of the document. The following information is required in the request: number and date of issue, full name of the organization, OGRN and address of the medical institution.

Next, the original document is attached and sent to the fund. If the FSS determines that it is false, request written notification.

Sample application to the Social Insurance Fund to confirm the authenticity of the sick leave certificate:

Why do you need to store sick leave certificates?

The FSS conducts regular inspections to establish the correctness, completeness and validity of payments of all insurance premiums, as well as compensation received in connection with this.

This includes sick leave certificates. The organization must provide the Foundation with original documents for review. If you do not have the original document, this will serve as grounds for refusal to offset payments for temporary disability. Keeping the certificate of incapacity for work in the organization is mandatory for 6 years. A log of sick leave registration is created, all sheets are filed in one folder. There is no provision for storing the certificate of incapacity for work in the hospital.

The employer is not liable for remaining silent about the receipt of fake sick leave certificates, but it is worth reporting such violations to the prosecutor's office. This will help avoid problems if FSS officials discover a fake and contact the police.

Registration of sick leave and work with employees becomes easier in the Kontur.Accounting service. You can calculate salaries and benefits, keep records and reports, and work in the service together with colleagues. All functionality can be evaluated free of charge for 14 days.

Execution of documents retroactively

Is it possible to take, open or issue a sick leave certificate retroactively? A certificate of incapacity for work is issued only from the date on which the patient contacted a medical professional. But despite this, some institutions offer to buy sick leave from them with a certificate of incapacity for work from the date you need .

How to make sick leave retroactively? To do this, you can buy one of the types of fake sheets: a ready-made sick leave form and a new form. What is their difference?

Ready-made fake sheet

This is a document issued by a medical institution without being entered into the database for a specific monetary reward . This point may or may not be intentional. The fact is that all medical institutions purchase forms from a specialized company, but the human factor has not been canceled.

All forms can be illegally resold, but the clinic will not know about it. Therefore, in this case, the medical institution is not responsible for fake sick leave certificates.

You may also be interested in the article “How do you extend sick leave?”, because sometimes, after an illness, you want to legally rest at home for a couple more days.

Blank form

You can buy such a sick leave sheet and fill it out yourself. This offer is not uncommon on the Internet. Many companies offer to purchase such a form from them and fill it out yourself on behalf of the medical institution.

This is a trick of scammers that is aimed at an unknowing contingent of people. Such information is easily verified and a false document is identified; one of the consequences for a fake sick leave is to bring the employee to criminal liability .

Checking electronic sick leave

It is almost impossible to falsify an electronic sick leave certificate, since only an employee of a medical institution can open it, and until the document is closed, third parties do not have access. Therefore, the question of its authenticity usually does not arise. A situation may arise when an unscrupulous doctor issues a document to a person who was not actually sick. But it is unlikely that it will be possible to establish this fact without an investigation by law enforcement officials or the clinic itself.

Expert commentary

Shadrin Alexey

Lawyer

If the employer has doubts that the employee was really sick, he can initiate a check by submitting a request to a medical institution or the Social Insurance Fund.

Therefore, the employer’s verification of the electronic sick leave essentially coincides with the procedure for filling it out. If the document number provided by the employee is in the FSS database, then the document is genuine. To do this, the employer registered in the system just needs to log into his personal account and find sick leave there using the document number and SNILS of the employee. Then the responsible employee can only fill out his part of the sick leave, after which the document is automatically sent to social insurance.

Responsibility for falsifying a certificate of incapacity for work

What kind of fake sick leave will be? It is this kind of certificate of incapacity that can lead you not only to financial losses, but also to a real term of imprisonment or correctional labor.

Employee Responsibility

Practice shows that very often employees provide fake sick leave for work. But not everyone knows what responsibility this entails:

1. Criminal - compulsory, correctional labor; forced labor; arrest, restriction of freedom.
2. Material - fine, compensation for damage.
3. Disciplinary - reprimand, reprimand, dismissal.

Employer's liability

For failure to check the strict reporting form, a legal entity may be subject to a fine of up to 80,000 rubles . We also recommend reading the article “How to open a sick leave certificate if you are not sick?”, in which we will talk about various ways to take time off when you are not sick.

Responsibility for forgery

A disciplinary sanction is imposed on an employee for forgery of a strict reporting document. There is also criminal liability. It is charged on the basis of a claim from the employer or the Social Insurance Fund. The claim must refer to Article 327 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation. If an employee received temporary disability benefits, he may also be charged with Article 159.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (fraud). The employee may have the following responsibilities:

• Up to 3 years of imprisonment.
• A fine of up to 120,000 rubles.
• Correctional work.

When filing a claim, the employer pays for all examinations to establish the authenticity of the document. If the fact of forgery is proven, compensation for expenses in the appropriate amount can be requested from the employee.

FOR YOUR INFORMATION! Despite the prevalence of document forgery, their authenticity is rarely verified. This is due to the complexity of the procedure. When contacting the authorities, you will have to wait for a response from several weeks to several months. Therefore, it makes sense to check sick leave only if there are serious suspicions of forgery.