How to take a sick leave: step-by-step instructions for registration

Author of the article: Anastasia Ivanova Last modified: January 2021 3058

A sick leave certificate is issued to an employee in case of illness and is the basis for his absence from work and the calculation of benefits. It is an official form from a medical organization, which states the place of work, details of the issuing institution, duration of the disease and other information. Obtaining sick leave is characterized by its own characteristics, which should be taken into account by both the employee and the employer.

The importance of correct filling

A certificate of incapacity for work is a strict reporting form. It must be filled out in accordance with established rules and regulations. Failure to enter information correctly can result in unpleasant consequences for the employer:

• The FSS will refuse to pay for sick leave, and then the employer will have to give the money to the employee from his own pocket, and then deal with the FSS in court;
• if the employee refuses to make the required payments, the employee will go to court and will most likely win the case.

Therefore, it is better for the responsible specialist to study the rules and regulations in advance, and only then proceed to filling out the document.

What is sick leave?

No employee is immune from possible illness. Having an official job allows him to receive compensation for a certificate of incapacity for work. This possibility gave rise to the need to use a single form of sick leave throughout the Russian Federation.

The current form of certificate of incapacity for work has been used since 2011. It is used in all regions of the country without exception. A sick note looks like this (clickable image):

Sick leave

The form contains columns that are filled out by the medical institution and the employer. Initially, the document is issued to the employee by a medical institution. How to take sick leave for an employee of an organization, read more in the article How to take sick leave.

The creation of a single form made it possible not only to unify the document format, but also to protect against forgery. The document has several degrees of protection, which eliminates the possibility of forgery and copying.

Everything is only in electronic format from 2022

From 2022, all sick leave certificates will be issued only electronically.

Law No. 126-FZ makes amendments that establish mandatory electronic document flow between the insurer, policyholder, medical organizations, extra-budgetary funds, tax authorities, and so on.

From 2022, no company will be able to operate without UKEP. It will also be needed to cover sick leave. Fortunately, starting from July 2021, electronic signatures are promised to be free.

How it works in 2021:

Rules and algorithm for paying benefits directly from the Social Insurance Fund from 2021

Registration procedure

The legislation establishes not only a list of organizations that can issue certificates of incapacity for work and the requirements for them, but also the procedure for indicating all information in the document. For the employee, the algorithm of actions will be as follows:

1. if you feel unwell or ill, contact a medical institution and ask for a sick leave certificate;
2. after discharge, receive a certificate of incapacity for work, check on the spot whether all dates and information are entered correctly;
3. write a statement at your place of work and attach a sick leave certificate.

This is where the employee’s actions end. Next, his application is accepted, a certificate of incapacity for work is filled out by a personnel specialist or another employee who is assigned these duties. Then the accountant calculates the amount of compensation, tears off the bottom part of the form and submits the document to the Social Insurance Fund.

The FSS reviews the submitted documents. If everything is fine with them, then sick leave is paid. For more information about the deadlines for accrual and transfer of funds by the employer and the Social Insurance Fund, see the article Payment of sick leave.

Features of receiving a document at a place other than your place of registration

A citizen has the right to issue a certificate of incapacity for work at a location other than his place of registration.
The document can be issued by a private clinic if the patient prefers to undergo treatment there. But it should be remembered that a medical organization has the right to issue sick leave only with the appropriate license. The certificate of incapacity for work must be issued on a form approved by the Ministry of Health. A document in another form is not accepted for calculating benefits to the Social Insurance Fund. A sick leave certificate can also be issued at the place of temporary registration, in the clinic where the person is being observed. If a citizen is temporarily in another city or country during a period of illness, he needs to collect certificates of illness, which, upon arrival home, he can exchange for a certificate of incapacity for work from his attending physician.

Is it possible to issue an electronic sick leave?

You can often hear the question from ordinary employees of an organization: I am sick, how can I take sick leave? Actually, the registration procedure itself is the same. The person must go to a medical facility. There the document will be drawn up by a specialist. Moreover, just a year ago there was no alternative to a paper document in most regions.

Federal Law No. 86-FZ of May 1, 2021 allowed medical institutions to use not only paper, but also electronic sick leave certificates. Some “pilot” regions have been using this document format since 2014.

After the law comes into force, sick employees may express a desire to receive an electronic certificate of incapacity for work (ELN), but there is one limitation: it is necessary that the participants in the information interaction system be:

• the medical institution to which the employee applied;
• employer.

By the end of 2021, more than 150,000 ELNs were issued, and almost a quarter of all medical institutions became participants in the system. This demand for electronic sick leave is explained by several factors:

• less work with paper documents;
• reducing the time required to fill out a document;
• eliminates the possibility of forgery of sick leave;
• there is no need to create accounting documents or organize the storage of papers;
• such a sheet will not be lost;
• verification is simplified for all parties;
• automatic accounting of forms and generation of reports on them;
• the employer can check information about a sick employee before he is discharged;
• You can correct the information through your personal account by making an appropriate request, without contacting a medical institution;
• responsible specialists do not have to travel to the Social Insurance Fund to submit sick leave certificates.

Important : to use ELN, the patient who applies must give written consent.

Stamps in the usual sense are not affixed to the electronic form. For this purpose, electronic enhanced qualified signatures are used. Each doctor has his own.

After entering all the information, the sick leave certificate is sent not to the employer, but to the unified Social Insurance information system. After this, the employer enters information through his personal account. Calculations of compensation for sick leave when using ELN can be carried out by:

• Social Insurance Fund workers in “pilot” regions;
• the patient’s employers in other regions (they are obligated to calculate and pay benefits, that is, the money first comes from the Social Insurance Fund, and then is transferred to the employee).

Features of work

Employees will be required to provide information about themselves to the employer once. There they must also note a current bank account. The document form is attached to the FSS order No. 26 dated February 4, 2021.

The employer will need to send the data to the Social Insurance Fund within 3 working days after this. The Fund will transfer the funds within 10 days after receiving the information and documents. If the benefit is transferred late, the fund will have to reimburse this penalty (half a percent for each day of delay). This rule applies only to industrial accidents and occupational diseases. This norm is not spelled out in Federal Law No. 255-FZ.

If the fund discovers any violations, it may refuse to pay benefits. Also, if the department decides that the documents supporting the benefit are unreliable, it can send the employer or the citizen himself a demand to return the money. If there is no return, then the FSS will be able to go to court, but only when the amount of the debt is more than 3 thousand rubles. If it is less, then the agency will wait for the moment when it exceeds the threshold value. After the excess, the fund will be able to go to court within 6 months from the date of the excess. If the amount has not yet “grown” to 3 thousand rubles, then the department will be able to file a claim in court within six months from the date when three years have elapsed since the fine was issued.

Who pays for sick leave?

The employer is an intermediary between employees and the Social Insurance Fund in the matter of filling out and submitting sick leave. Who makes contributions to the employee? As a general rule, the obligation to pay sick leave is assumed by:

• employer – he pays for the first 3 days of illness;
• FSS – compensates for the remaining days.

There are also cases in which the Social Insurance Fund assumes responsibility for full payment of sick leave. This applies to the following situations:

1. sick leave for pregnancy and childbirth - compensation is due for 140 days;
2. caring for an adult family member.

If, in a specific situation, an employee is interested in who will give him compensation, he must first figure out how long sick leave is issued for. It all depends on the severity of the disease and who is filing the sick leave. Read more about this in the article How to take sick leave.

In the case when an employee quits and registers with the Employment Center, and then gets sick, the federal fund becomes the payer. The amount of the benefit itself in such a situation is assigned in accordance with the law.

How to close and pay for an electronic tax account - step-by-step instructions

First of all, it is necessary to carry out the procedure for registering an electronic tax record:

1. the employee must give written consent;
2. the doctor needs to enter data into the FSS database;
3. the employee and employer need to register on the government services portal and the Social Insurance Fund portal.

After passing this stage, the calculation of benefits begins. How to correctly calculate the amount of payments? To do this, you can use a specialized calculator located on the official website of the Social Insurance Fund. The procedure for calculating the exact amount of benefits, formulas, etc. is regulated by the Regulations approved by Decree of the Government of the Russian Federation No. 375.

The procedure goes as follows:

1. It is necessary to count all income during the two years preceding the illness, produced by the employee and from which insurance contributions were paid to the Social Insurance Fund of the Russian Federation. Income can include: wages and bonuses, vacation pay and travel allowances, financial assistance in the amount of at least 4 thousand rubles.
   If the employee worked at the enterprise of the current employer for less than two years, a salary certificate in form No. 182n will be required from all former employers for these two years. It indicates the very payments from which contributions were made to the Social Insurance Fund of the Russian Federation.

   Example: Ivan Grigorievich received 300,000 and 340,000 rubles for 2016 and 2017, respectively.

2. It is necessary to calculate the employee's average daily earnings.
   To do this, it is necessary to add income for the previous two calendar years and divide them by 730, and no adjustments for leap years were adopted by the Regulations. Example: total income for the two previous calendar years of Ivan Grigorievich is 640 thousand rubles; dividing this amount by 730, we get the average daily earnings of this employee in the amount of 876.6 rubles.
3. The government has approved the minimum and maximum payment thresholds: 367 rubles and 2,017.81 rubles, respectively.
   Thus, the FSS simply will not allow you to go above or below these thresholds. It follows from this that before continuing the procedure, you need to compare the obtained figures of average daily income with the established limits. Example: the average daily income of Ivan Grigorievich is 876.6 rubles, it fits into the corridor established by law.
4. The accountant needs to calculate the percentage of the full benefit that the ELN owner will receive.
   The percentage of the benefit depends on the employee’s total length of service and the cause of temporary disability; the person filling out the document must rely on Art. 7 and Art. 9 Federal Law dated July 24, 1998 No. 125-FZ. Example: Ivan Grigorievich fell ill with his own illness (not related to working conditions), his total work experience is less than five years. According to Art. 7 of Law No. 255-FZ, he will receive 60% of the average daily earnings.
5. We adjust the final payment for one day of incapacity, taking into account the percentage of the average daily income (clause 4).
   Example: Ivan Grigorievich will receive 876.6x0.6 = 526 rubles according to the electronic sick leave.
6. We calculate the total amount due to the patient for sick leave.
   To do this, you need to multiply the figure obtained in step 5 by the number of days of incapacity for work. Example: Ivan Grigorievich was sick for 5 days, including two days off (weekends must also be paid). Total 526x5 = 2630 rubles.
7. Now you need to calculate the personal income tax levied on benefits;
   as of 2021 it is 13%. To calculate, you must first determine the amount of personal income tax by multiplying the final hospital payment by 0.13; then the amount received must be subtracted from the benefit. Example: Ivan Grigorievich was supposed to receive 2630 rubles, but the mandatory payment of personal income tax will “take away” 341 rubles (2630x0.13 = 341 rubles). The final payment to Ivan will be 2,288 rubles, and 341 rubles must be transferred to the state for tax payments.

To complete the procedure, you must choose which form of payment is most preferable to the employee’s employer: an offset system or direct payments.

With a credit system

How to calculate payments using the offset system? It is necessary to indicate the number “2” in field 001 of Appendix 2 of Section 1 of the ELN calculation, indicating the old credit system in force in Russia even before the introduction of the electronic sick leave.

After this, the document is sent to the Social Insurance Fund, the employee is transferred a benefit on a certain day (usually the last working day of the month in which the employee fell ill), and at most the next day after payment of sick leave, the accounting department must send personal income tax to the state in the amount of 13% - in accordance with paragraph 6 Article 226 of the Tax Code .

Later, when the reporting period comes to an end, the employing organization collects the documents established by the “Order of the Ministry of Health and Social Development of Russia dated December 4, 2009 N 951n” and sends them to the Social Insurance Fund to receive material compensation (compensation for losses):

1. a statement made in writing and certified by the manager and the head. accountant;
2. certificate - calculation;
3. copies of papers proving the accuracy of the calculations, as well as the reasonableness of the costs of paying benefits.

For direct payments

The system looks a little different. In the electronic sick leave certificate, in field 001 of Appendix 2 of Section 1 of the calculation, it is necessary to indicate the order of direct payments.

In order for a sick employee to receive a transfer from the FSS, the employee himself or his authorized person must submit an application to the authorities in the form established by Order of the FSS of the Russian Federation dated November 24, 2017 No. 578. The employer himself can fill out the application on behalf of the employee, but in this case it is necessary be sure that the employee will not want to go to court in the future for violation of his rights.

After submitting the application, the employer must send an electronic register of sick leave to the Social Insurance Fund within five calendar days. The form of the register is fully regulated by Order of the Social Insurance Fund of the Russian Federation dated November 24, 2017 No. 579.

Payment is made in the manner preferred for the sick employee - by postal order or to a bank account (the chosen method of payment of benefits must be indicated in the standard application).

Authorities are given 10 calendar days to transfer funds from the Social Insurance Fund; if monthly payments are provided - for example, for maternity benefits or for parental leave - each monthly payment is made from the 1st to the 15th of the current month.

Reflection of sick leave information in internal documents

Submission of sick leave by an employee requires the HR specialist to correctly accept the document. The responsible employee must not only correctly fill out the certificate of incapacity for work, but also fill out/draw up other internal documents of the enterprise.

The organization draws up an order to assign benefits to a sick employee. The basis for this is the provided sick leave. The document does not have a single form, so companies draw it up independently, making sure to indicate information about the organization and the employee.

It is important to correctly reflect the sick leave certificate in other papers. First of all, in the accounting sheet. Additionally, the organization can keep a sick leave log.

Reflection of sick leave in the accounting sheet

A time sheet is a mandatory document of the enterprise, with the help of which the work time of each employee is tracked. Any failure to appear is displayed on the time sheet and justified by the employee. Moreover, for each reason there is its own designation in the form of a number or letter.

Employee illness is perhaps the most common reason for absence. To display it in the timesheet, one of the following markings can be used:

• «19»;
• "B".

You can use any of these options if the benefit is accrued to the employee. However, the letter designation is more popular, since the decoding “B - disease” is easier and faster to remember. In addition to the reasons for non-appearance, the time worked is also indicated. The number “0” is used for illness. You can even leave the column blank.

The largest number of questions regarding entering information about sick leave into the time sheet arises due to the fact that employees do not know whether days off are included in the sick leave. Read more about this in the article Calculation of sick leave: formula and examples. There is also a comment regarding holidays.

The general order of reflection implies that all days from the beginning to the end of the illness are marked in the report card with the letter “B”. All payments are made based on the total number of days on sick leave.

Important : if sick leave is issued for pregnancy and childbirth, then the personnel specialist uses a different marking in the form of the letter “P”.

In some cases, employers do not pay sick leave, but they still need to record the employee’s absence. For example, this is possible if an external part-time worker received benefits at another place of work. In this case, the letter “T” or the number “20” is entered on the report card.

Sick leave register

The sick leave logbook is not used in all enterprises. They are usually relevant for large organizations where it is important to systematize a large number of documents. The law does not establish a uniform form for such a journal, therefore all issues regarding its maintenance and the appointment of responsible persons are decided by each enterprise separately.

Keeping a log of sick leave allows you to quickly obtain information on the number of sick people and the duration of the disease. In addition, the document allows you to verify information with the accounting sheet and enter missing information there. It may look like this (picture is clickable):

Sick leave register

Calculation of sick leave

The organization bears the responsibility not only for accepting and filling out sick leave, but also for calculating it. This is usually done by an accountant. The calculations use a special formula for calculating sick leave. It has not changed in 2021. You will find step-by-step instructions for calculating the amount of sick leave pay for an employee in the article Calculating sick leave: formula and examples.

The main change compared to the previous year is a change in the billing period and, accordingly, an increase in the maximum permissible calculation base. In this regard, the maximum sick leave payment in 2021 has also changed.

When making calculations, accountants take into account a combination of several factors. The final amount of the benefit is influenced by the size of the average daily wage, length of service and the reason for receiving sick leave (in some situations, not 100% of the benefit is paid, but a smaller part). The length of service for sick leave in 2021 is used to calculate the coefficient. You will find their explanation in the article Calculation of sick leave: formula and examples.

From January 1, the minimum wage increased to 9,489 rubles. It will be taken into account when calculating sick leave in the following cases:

• the employee did not work officially for the previous 2 years, that is, did not have an official salary;
• the average monthly salary is below the minimum wage;
• total work experience does not exceed 6 months;
• The employee violated the rules while on sick leave.

Due to the increase in the minimum wage, the minimum sick leave payment in 2021 has also increased. Indicators and application rules are presented in the article Calculation of sick leave: formula and examples.

Who pays for ELN?

In any case, the payment for electronic sick leave is handled by the Social Insurance Fund (SIF). But first, the ELN is transferred to the employer's organization . From the moment the head of the company receives the ELN, he is obliged to transfer it to the Social Insurance Fund within five working days, also attaching all the required documents to the sheet.

Next, the Social Insurance Fund is obliged to calculate the benefits and make the payment itself within ten working days. Moreover, depending on the chosen payment method - direct payments or an offset system - the money will come from the Social Insurance Fund directly or from the employer, respectively.

In the general (offset) scheme, the payment is made by the employer against documentary evidence. Later, at the end of the reporting period, the policyholder must submit documents to the Social Insurance Fund certifying the fact of payment of funds, and the Social Insurance Fund, after conducting inspections, will reimburse all losses.

Since 2017, a pilot project for electronic sick leave has been launched , which makes it possible to make direct payments. When choosing direct payments, the transfer of benefits to employees is made by the Social Insurance Fund immediately, without interaction with the employer.

The measures introduced make it possible not to withdraw funds from the company’s turnover, which has a positive effect on the growth of organizations and the overall increase in the competitiveness of the Russian economy.

As of 2021, 33 regions of the Russian Federation are participating in the Direct Payments pilot project:

• Republic of Adygea;
• Altai;
• Buryatia;
• Kalmykia;
• Altaic;
• Primorsky Krai;
• Amurskaya;
• Vologda;
• Magadan;
• Omsk;
• Orlovskaya;
• Tomskaya;
• Jewish Autonomous Region and so on.

A complete list of regions can be found in Decrees of the Government of the Russian Federation dated December 19, 2015 N 1389 and dated April 21, 2011 N 294.

Payment of sick leave to care for children or sick relatives

An employee has the opportunity to receive compensation not only in case of illness. This right is retained even when an adult relative needs care or a minor child falls ill. Read more about the rules for calculating and the timing of such sick leave in the article How to take sick leave.

If a child is sick

The illness of a child gives the right to parents, guardians, trustees, and other relatives to take paid sick leave at work. How many days sick leave is issued in this case is stated in the article How to take sick leave.

Important : two people cannot stay with a child on sick leave at the same time. But during one illness they can issue a certificate of incapacity for work one by one. For example, if a child was sick from Monday to Friday, the mother can take sick leave for Monday and Tuesday, and the father for the remaining days.

Such sick leave is paid by the employer for the first 3 days. The remaining amount is transferred by the FSS. At the place of work, there is no need to provide additional documents other than a certificate of incapacity for work. The employer cannot require documents confirming relationship.

To register a sick leave for an adult, he must come to the medical facility together with the sick child. It is enough to take your passport and documents for the child with you (compulsory medical insurance policy and birth certificate).

Important : if a child gets sick while a parent is on vacation, the latter cannot take out sick leave.

If an adult is sick

Sometimes a person finds himself in circumstances that require him to care for sick relatives. At the same time, the inability to go to work significantly worsens the financial situation. That is why the Social Insurance Fund is ready to pay compensation for sick leave within the time limits specified by law (no more than 7 days per fact, no more than 30 days per year).

You can take out sick leave while caring for relatives. The law includes among them not only spouses, parents and children over 15 years of age, but also other relatives - brothers, sisters, aunts and others.

The fact that a relative is ill is not the only condition for receiving benefits under a certificate of incapacity for work. Additionally, the following criteria must be met:

• the patient really needs care - the doctor decides;
• the employee must care for the patient after the fact;
• the relative is being treated on an outpatient basis (in case of inpatient treatment, no one will issue a certificate of incapacity for work).

Being on such sick leave also presupposes some features of filling out a certificate of incapacity for work. It must indicate the name of the person in need of care. Also, the medical institution enters the code “09” in a special column, which stands for “care for a relative.”

The employer does not pay such sick leave at all. The FSS assumes all obligations. The employer acts solely as an intermediary.

Reasons for receiving

Sick leave can be obtained in the following situations:

• in case of loss of ability to work due to illness or work injury;
• when caring for a sick child;
• if quarantine is declared (for example, in an educational organization attended by a preschooler);
• during the rehabilitation period after a long illness, if the patient is in a sanatorium-resort institution);
• in connection with an operation to terminate a pregnancy or IVF, etc.

If the sick leave is related to quarantine, then its duration depends on the approved periods of isolation of patients with an infectious disease. The right to receive a document on temporary disability is also reserved for those who need to care for close incapacitated relatives or disabled people.

A sick leave can be obtained from a dentist, but its duration is usually limited to the day when treatment (prosthetics) takes place. The doctor is allowed to prescribe a document for those who suffer from allergies during the acute flowering period.

Expert commentary

Kamensky Yuri

Lawyer

Disability benefits can be received not only for the main place of work, but also for an additional place of work, if the person is officially employed. To do this, you should initially indicate to the doctor who is writing the form that you will need several sick leaves. The benefit is accrued only if the employee has been working part-time for at least the last 2 years.

An employee of a medical organization has the right to refuse to issue a certificate of incapacity for work for the following reasons:

• the person undergoes examination at the direction of the military registration and enlistment office;
• the patient has no signs of the disease;
• the patient refuses to undergo mandatory tests;
• when a citizen is under arrest;
• with exacerbation of a chronic disease, but treated on an outpatient basis.

Dental clinics issue a certificate of a one-time visit to a doctor, giving the right to be absent from the workplace only on that day.