When must an employee bring sick leave to work?

19.08.2019

2919

4 min.

An officially employed citizen has the right to issue a certificate of incapacity for work due to deterioration in health or caring for a sick child or family member. The employer must pay for the period of temporary suspension from work duties for health reasons. To receive compensation, the employee must provide the ballot within the strictly prescribed period of time.

General provisions

The employee must provide sick leave no later than 6 months after closure. This is stated in paragraph 1 of Art. 12 of the Law “On compulsory social insurance in case of disability or in connection with maternity” No. 255-FZ (hereinafter referred to as Law No. 255-FZ).

The expiration date of the certificate of temporary incapacity for work refers to:

• The date when the sick leave is closed and the employee is obliged to appear at the workplace (if he was on sick leave himself).
• A doctor’s note indicating the date on which the sick leave was valid. This occurs if the patient does not show up to the doctor at the appointed time, but on a subsequent visit turns out to be completely healthy. Then in the “Other” item the code “36” is indicated.
• The next day after the date specified in the “By what date” paragraph, if the employee was on sick leave in connection with caring for a child or other sick family member.

Expert commentary

Kamensky Yuri

Lawyer

If you miss taking sick leave, you should contact the social security service. A citizen submits an application for benefits. This can only be counted on if there was a valid reason for absence. The corresponding list was approved by the Order of the Ministry of Health and Social Development in 2007.

Where there is a pilot project in which the Social Insurance Fund pays benefits on its own, a similar period for application applies (six months). The application is submitted in the same way as to the employer. At the same time, it should indicate the details of the bank account where the FSS money will be transferred.

Violation of the deadline

If the deadline for providing sick leave to the employer for a temporary illness is violated, the employee is left without payment of benefits, since the employer, by law, simply does not have the right to take the document into account six months after the end of the illness. But the employee himself can apply for registration of payment of benefits to the FSS authorities, where they will make a decision on his issue (Article 12 of the Federal Law No. 255 of December 29, 2006).

Thus, the employer cannot take any action in this situation, but is obliged to explain to the employee the possibility of contacting the Social Insurance Fund, whose divisions deal with such issues.

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When contacting the appropriate authority, an enterprise employee must have in hand:

1. sick leave;
2. a statement that must indicate the reason for such a significant delay.

If the employee has evidence in the form of documents, this will be an argument in his favor. When an employee misses a sick leave date due to a long illness, he can definitely count on a positive decision. All sick leave payments will be received, but not through the enterprise, but directly from the social insurance fund (clause 2 of the List from Order of the Ministry of Health and Social Development No. 74 of January 31, 2007). Also see "Benefits from July 1, 2021: how the sizes have changed."

Registration of a certificate of incapacity for work

Sick leave may be opened in the following cases:

• When a citizen is officially employed, when the employer makes contributions for his employee.
• If you quit your job no more than a month ago.

Sick leave is an official document that allows an employee to legally not attend work, and at the same time receive compensation for the corresponding period. In order to receive money and not be fired, when illness occurs, a citizen should consult a doctor immediately.

After the examination, when the doctor is convinced of the presence of the disease, a certificate of incapacity for work is issued. This is a strict reporting document with a unique code. Each sick leave is filled in accordance with the provisions of the law. If violations are detected, unfortunately, you cannot count on payment.

When preparing a document, it is important to provide the information correctly. The company name must be written without errors. In general, nothing in this document can be corrected or crossed out.

End of sick leave day

The Ministry has established a period for issuing sick leave. It depends on the severity of the illness or injury. If it is necessary to increase the period, a special medical commission is convened.

Payment for the sheet is made one-time after closing. In the document, the doctor notes that the citizen has undergone treatment, is healthy and can begin performing work duties.

To calculate money, the days between the beginning and end of sick leave are taken into account. The form has a column that specifically serves to indicate the relevant data. When closing the sheet, a stamp is placed on the document, and its number is written in the medical institution’s register.

Expert commentary

Leonov Victor

Lawyer

Sick leave is included in the accounting department only when it is closed - that is, it indicates the end date and also has a stamp. If the illness lasts for a long time, one sick leave may be closed and the other open. Thanks to this, payment is made partially.

Procedure for providing sick leave

The newsletter is opened on the day of the visit to the attending physician. The execution of the document is the responsibility of medical workers with a license for professional activities, paramedics, dentists, and specialists from tuberculosis dispensaries. Sick leave is not issued to students of educational institutions, citizens undergoing examination, examination during exacerbation of chronic pathology, or in custody. The bulletin is opened after examination and treatment. The procedure for providing certificates of incapacity for work:

1. Closing sick leave in a medical institution.
2. Placing the doctor's signature and stamp on the form.
3. Submitting a newsletter to the personnel department of the organization.
4. Registration of a document in the accounting journal.
5. Determination of compensation payment by an accountant.
6. Transfer of the prepared package of documents to the social insurance authorities for the calculation of funds.

To receive payment, a citizen must comply with the deadline for providing sick leave to the employer. When issuing the form, on the reverse side, the HR department employee indicates the name of the enterprise, position and tax identification number of the employee, personnel identification number, period of suspension from official duties, salary amount, date of resumption of work. The accountant establishes the insurance period, on the basis of which the average income necessary to determine the amount of monetary compensation is calculated.

Effective date

Receiving monetary compensation is only permissible upon closing the document. Work is possible after undergoing treatment and after the doctor has marked the patient’s complete recovery. The expiration date of the form is the specified date of return to work duties. When registering sick leave to care for a child or close relative, the withdrawal period is considered to be the day following the closing date of the ballot. The expiration date of the certificate of incapacity for work is the number indicated in the “Start work” column.

Submission deadline

Article 12 of Federal Law No. 255 regulates the period of contacting the head of the enterprise to pay for a bulletin issued for health reasons. In accordance with the law, the period for submitting sick leave to the employer is 6 months from the date of recovery. The established period is determined for persons who have issued a document due to deterioration in health, caring for a child or close relative, prosthetics, maternity leave, quarantine, or undergoing treatment in a sanatorium. After submitting the form, the director of the company sends the received data to the Social Insurance Fund for calculation of payments.

Where and to whom to give

To receive monetary compensation, you must close the ballot and provide it to the head of the organization. After filling out the form at a medical institution, employees must know who to give sick leave to at work. To confirm a valid reason for not fulfilling official duties for a certain period, you must provide a document to the HR department. In accordance with local regulations, the ballot is registered in the accounting journal. Employees must be informed where to submit sick leave to receive benefits. The calculation of compensation payments is carried out by the organization's accountant. Based on data on the average monthly income, the number of days away from work and the insurance period, the accrued amount of money is determined.

If the deadline is missed

It is not always possible for an employee to submit a certificate of incapacity for work to the accounting department within the prescribed period. Therefore, you need to know how to act in appropriate situations. After all, after missing the document, it will no longer be possible to submit it to the accounting department, since it simply will not be accepted. Accordingly, no calculation will be made. And this is not because the accountant does not want to take the document, but because this is prohibited by law. What action should be taken in this case depends on the reason for the omission. If there is a good reason, there will be no problems. Otherwise, payments will no longer be achieved.

Actions of an employee who missed the established period for submitting sick leave to the employer:

1. Submit an application for compensation for the period of incapacity to work to the Social Insurance Fund, indicating the reason why the form was not provided within the prescribed period.
2. Attach the original sick note.

These actions can be done personally or through an employer.

Missing a sick leave deadline

The law obliges working citizens to submit documents for the calculation of social insurance payments within 6 months from the day when:

• the attending physician has made a decision about the person’s ability to return to work;
• a specially created medical commission established permanent disability and recognized a working or non-working disability group, recommending light work in special conditions.

For a good reason

The list of grounds that can be considered valid in case of missing time for taking sick leave is approved by Order of the Ministry of Health and Social Development No. 74, current as amended on October 5, 2009. These include:

• unforeseen circumstances that cannot be prevented (natural disasters such as earthquakes, hurricanes, floods, fires, etc.);
• if the course of treatment of an illness or rehabilitation after injuries took a longer period than 6 months;
• relocation of the interested person to a new place of residence;
• recognized illegal dismissal of an employee or removal from his position, as a result of which he was forced to be absent from work;
• loss of loved ones due to death or the need to provide outside care for them due to deteriorating health;
• circumstances recognized by a court decision as preventing the provision of documents for payment.

If there are documents confirming the presence of any of these factors that prevented a timely application when the employer must pay sick leave, an application with originals or copies attached is submitted to the territorial Social Insurance Fund (FSS).

How to prove that the six-month period was missed for a good reason?

To prove the existence of a valid reason, the employee must collect supporting documents. For example, in case of forced absence due to illegal dismissal or suspension from work, an order from the employer will be required; in case of temporary disability due to illness or injury lasting more than six months, a certificate of incapacity for work will be required.

For no good reason

If the applicant cannot explain in any way the reason for the delay in submitting documents from a medical institution confirming the completion of treatment or rehabilitation, he will be denied social benefits.

An interested person has the right to challenge the decision of the employer or the Social Insurance Fund through the court or the territorial labor inspectorate.

Contacting the FSS

A certificate of incapacity for work that is not submitted within the required period can only be submitted to the Social Insurance Fund. All cases are individual. Therefore, decisions are made depending on specific circumstances. Thus, you cannot be 100% sure that the payment will be approved. The FSS may refuse.

To submit an application to the FSS you should:

1. Contact the employees with an application, which is filled out on a special form.
2. To determine whether the reason will be classified as valid, you can first read the Order of the Ministry of Health and Social Development No. 74 of 2007.
3. Confirm the stated reason with relevant documents.

Expert commentary

Kolesnikova Anna

Lawyer

It is recommended to contact the FSS after collecting supporting documents. If, as a result of reviewing the documents, a positive decision is made, the money will be transferred to the applicant’s bank account. Otherwise, a written refusal is sent. If the employee considers that the refusal is unfounded, he can protest this decision by filing a claim in court.

Good reasons

The list of valid reasons contained in the Order of the Ministry of Health and Social Development No. 74 includes:

• Force majeure, for example, natural disasters that prevented the employee from providing a certificate of incapacity for work within the prescribed period.
• The course of the illness exceeded the period indicated on the sheet, which became the reason for the obstacle to filing the application.
• Relocation of an employee.
• Removal of an employee from work, which is subsequently recognized as illegal or forced.
• Serious illness or death of a relative.

This list is not exhaustive. Other reasons may also be recognized as valid. However, for this you will need to contact a judicial authority.

What an employee needs to know about the duration of sick leave

The validity period of sick leave is determined by the laws of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation. The provisions of the code state that a document confirming incapacity for work is valid for only six months from the date of issue. That is, an employee who wishes to receive a calculation must submit the document to the accounting department as soon as possible. Financial compensation may be paid along with salary or advance payment. There are other restrictions in this area of ​​legislation.

An employee who was fired from the company less than thirty days ago may seek disability compensation from former management. In this case, sick leave is paid in the amount of sixty percent of the employee’s average salary for the last two years. A former employee cannot demand financial compensation for caring for relatives. In this case, the company pays for the illness of only the employee; this rule does not apply to members of his family. But officially working specialists can count on support of this nature.

Expense compensation period

Funds are accrued on the basis of Law No. 255-FZ. The money is transferred no later than ten days after the documents are submitted to the Social Insurance Fund. The countdown begins from the moment it is accepted by specialists. Social Insurance Fund employees have the right to organize checks with the employer in order to obtain an explanation of the amount of payments.

During a desk audit, the period for transferring money can increase to 3 months, and during an on-site audit – up to 2 months. At the same time, FSS employees can request any documents, and the employer must provide them.

Expert commentary

Gorchakov Vladimir

Lawyer

The compensation amount is transferred within 3 days after the end of the verification. And if violations are detected, the employer will receive a written refusal. But he has the right to go to court to obtain compensation for paying a temporary disability certificate to his employee.

Deadlines for granting sick leave to the employer and the Social Insurance Fund

My brother recently had the flu and had to undergo a thorough course of treatment. On the day when it was necessary to provide the employer with a closed sick leave certificate, he was again unlucky. He was hospitalized with a concussion after a traffic accident. Some kind of black streak has come, which is aggravated by the fact that untimely submission of sick leave may threaten him with refusal of the due payment. I decided to dedicate this article specifically to this topic, I will answer the questions:

• The procedure for maintaining sick leave, its opening and closing;
• Deadlines for submitting sick leave to the accounting department;
• Conditions for submitting a sheet later than the deadline;
• The period for calculating compensation to the head of the company;
• Submission of documents by the manager to the Social Insurance Fund.

Deadline for submitting the sheet to the Social Insurance Fund by the employer

The employer should pay the employee only for the first 3 days of temporary disability certificate. The rest of the time is compensated through the Social Insurance Fund. He has no right to withhold money, citing its receipt from this service. Delay in submitting documents to the FSS office is also not allowed. If the employee is given money untimely, he has the right to complain to the labor inspectorate.

To receive compensation from the Social Insurance Fund, the employer submits the following papers:

• Application in form 4-FSS, which indicates expenses for the payment of social benefits.
• Application with company registration number and other necessary information.
• Register of expenses for benefits with the amount of compensation paid.
• Copies of documents on the costs of paying for sick leave.

Documents must be sent no later than 5 days from the moment the employee submits a certificate of temporary incapacity for work.

If the due date has expired

What to do if the sheet is not provided on time and the deadline for paying sick leave by the employer has passed? If an employee brings a sheet late, the manager has the right not to accept it. After all deadlines have passed, only the FSS department decides whether to pay for such a document or not. There is an indication of this in Part 3 of Art. 12 Federal Law dated December 29, 2006 No. 255-FZ.

Therefore, the employer has the right to advise the employee to contact the Social Insurance Fund department that supervises the employer himself with a request to take his situation into consideration. The request is made in the form of a written application. It should indicate the reason for failure to provide the certificate of incapacity for work on time. A document issued by a doctor is also attached to it. If the FSS considers the reason valid, compensation will be paid to the employee.

Issuance of a duplicate

If for one reason or another the employee’s certificate of temporary incapacity for work was lost, he has the right to apply to receive it again at the same medical institution. Sometimes this may require a certificate stating that the benefit has not been paid.

If the loss is associated with the employer’s fault, then a duplicate will not be issued. Of course, the employer in this situation can contact the employee so that he receives a duplicate, allegedly due to the loss of the document by him. If the payment has already been made, then this will no longer be possible. Then only the employer can contact the medical institution to get a copy of the tear-off stub from the lost temporary disability certificate.

The copy is certified by the signature of the chief physician or other authorized person of the medical institution, as well as by a seal. Then the employer should expect the next FSS inspection and be ready to defend their interests in court, if necessary.

Basic provisions on deadlines

In order to receive the required compensation for illness and temporary disability, you must provide an official closed sick leave to the accounting department.

You must submit the document in a timely manner, on time, otherwise benefits will not be awarded!

Expert opinion

Novikov Oleg Tarasovich

Legal consultant with 7 years of experience. Specializes in criminal law. Member of the Bar Association.

The processing of sick leave is carried out exclusively by the attending physician. He opens it and closes it after completing the course of treatment. The employee must come to the accounting department at the place of employment with a document containing the closing date.

Based on this paper, the amount of the required benefit is calculated, which will then be transferred to the employee’s account. The employer pays for the first three days of illness of the employee. And for the rest of the time, the manager can receive compensation transferred from the Social Insurance Fund.

To receive this form of compensation, it is necessary to provide the required papers in a timely manner - first to the accounting department of the enterprise, then to the Social Insurance Fund. If the deadlines are violated, the subject may lose his legal right to receive compensation for the payment of the required benefits.

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