How long can you stay on sick leave?
Of course, this depends on the disease and its severity. Unless medical specialists believe that a person needs to receive disability, they can issue sick leave for such a period as is necessary to return the person to a working condition.
However, the law provides for some restrictions:
- paramedics and dentists can issue sick leave for no longer than 10 days,
- other doctors can independently issue sick leave for up to 15 days; for a longer period, a medical commission has the right to issue a document.
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.
Procedure for paying sick leave in 2021
The amount you can receive in disability compensation depends on two main factors: your insurance coverage and your income.
When calculating average income, the last two years before the disease are taken into account. All your official income during this time is summed up and then divided by 730. This is how your average earnings for one calendar day are calculated.
Then the average daily earnings are multiplied by the number of days you were on sick leave. However, you will not always receive the full amount. At this stage, your insurance experience matters.
Since sick leave is paid from the Social Insurance Fund, which is replenished with money from working citizens, how actively you participate in replenishing the Fund also affects your right to use its funds. In order to receive 100% sick leave compensation, you must have at least eight years of insurance coverage. The general scheme is:
- with an insurance period of 8 years or more - 100% compensation,
- with insurance experience from 5 to 8 years - 80% compensation,
- with an insurance period of up to 5 years - 60% compensation,
- with an insurance period of less than 0.5 years - no more than the minimum wage for a full month of sick leave.
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).
What is insurance experience and how does it differ from labor experience?
In order to reliably understand how sick leave payment is calculated in 2021, it remains to understand what insurance experience is. This concept is broader than work experience. It includes all periods when you were insured by the social insurance fund against temporary disability.
What is included in the insurance period:
- length of service - the time you worked under employment contracts at all places of work;
- state civil or municipal service;
- work as an individual entrepreneur;
- military service;
- performing the duties of a State Duma deputy;
- etc., the list according to the law is very large.
Calculation example
Example No. 1
Vasilyeva O.V. there is a certificate of incapacity for work. Her minor son became seriously ill and she was forced to take sick leave from April 2 to April 20. Her experience is 8 years, and her income in 2021 is 710 thousand rubles, and in 2021 – 745,500 thousand rubles.
- Calculation period.
2016-2017, number of days of incapacity for work: 18 days.
- We get the average daily earnings.
Average daily earnings: (710,000+745,500)/730 = 1933 rubles
- We determine the percentage based on length of service.
Based on the data in the table above, for 8 years of experience – 100%
- We calculate the benefit.
1933 rubles multiplied by 18 days and by 100% = 34.794 rubles
- We deduct a tax of 13%
Tax amount: 34.794 * 13% = 4.523
Amount of sick leave, excluding tax: 30,271 rubles.
Example No. 2
Employee Ivanov has been working here for 6 years; he had never worked anywhere before. While he was unloading orders, a mount fell on him and injured his back. The doctor said that recovery would take at least a month (30 days).
Income in 2021 – 500,000, and in 2021 – 746,500 thousand rubles.
- Calculation period.
2016-17, 30 days of sick leave.
- We receive daily earnings.
(500.000+746.500)/730 = 1707,53
- We determine the percentage based on length of service.
Since an employee has an industrial injury, based on the data in the table, 100% is calculated, regardless of length of service.
- We calculate the benefit.
1707,53*30*100% = 51.225
- We deduct the tax.
Tax amount: 51.225*13% = 6.659 rubles
Sick leave amount, excluding tax: 44,566
Example No. 3
The general manager Alekseeva E.A. Grandmother became seriously ill. During treatment after surgery, she requires constant care. You must take sick leave for 10 days. Her experience is 4.5 years, and her total income (for 2021 and 2017) is 1,420,000 rubles.
- Calculation period.
2016-17, 10 days of incapacity for work.
- We receive daily earnings.
1,420,000/730 = 1,945 rubles.
- We determine the percentage based on length of service.
According to the data from the table, the percentage based on experience will be 60%.
- We calculate the benefit.
1.945*10*60% = 11.670 rubles
- We deduct the tax.
Tax amount: 11.670*13% = 1.517 rubles
Total benefit amount excluding tax: 11.670 – 1.517 = 10.153
Sample of filling out the form.
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Is sick leave taxable?
Yes, it's worth remembering. Temporary disability benefits are subject to personal income tax, so in 2021 you will be deducted 13% tax on the amount that will be calculated according to the above scheme.
Electronic certificate of incapacity for work: filling out procedure
For accountants, electronic documents are the easiest to use because they cannot be lost.
Filling procedure:
- Organization and position. It is necessary to enter the above data in the cells.
- Form of organization. You must check the box next to the type of work - part-time or permanent.
- Registration number and organization code.
- An identification number. If you take sick leave due to pregnancy or you do not have a tax identification number. In other cases, we skip the point.
- SNILS number.
- Periods of insurance and its absence. It is necessary to enter data on the period of contributions to the Social Insurance Fund.
- Average earnings.
- Benefit amount.
- The amount given by the employer in person.
- Accrual conditions.
Sick leave payment terms
After the employee provides documentation of disability, the employer has 10 days to calculate benefits.
The benefit is issued on the nearest date of payment of salary or advance payment.
If a pilot project is launched in the region, the number of days increases. The minimum waiting period is 15 days.
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FAQ
- If I did not enter into an employment contract, but worked for several years, can this time be included in my work experience?
Any employment must be formalized. In this case, you worked illegally - you received income, but did not pay taxes.
You will not be able to prove your length of service at a particular place of work if you were not officially registered there.
- If my experience is 3.4 years, then how long did I work - 3 or 4 years? How to calculate the length of service in this case?
When calculating length of service, no one rounds your length of service up or down - months and years are calculated, as a result of which interest is calculated.
If you worked for 3 years and 4 months, then your experience will be >5 years => you will be credited with 60%
- What services can I use to calculate sick leave?
There are several calculators, here is one of them. You can also do the calculations yourself using the following formulas:
(income for 2021 + income for 2017) / 730 days = average daily earnings.
Average daily earnings * number of days of incapacity * percentage of length of service = sick leave benefits
Sickness benefit * 13% personal income tax = tax amount.
Sick pay – tax = amount the employee receives.
- Does an employer have the right to refuse sick leave to an employee?
When working under a contract, you must be provided with a benefits package, which includes sick leave. In case of violation, you have every right to go to court.
- In what cases can I be fired while on sick leave?
If an employee’s sick leave lasts more than 4 months, then the employer has the right to ask him to write a statement of his own free will, or to fire him, citing the requirements of the work contract.
- The employer refuses to acknowledge the accident at work, what to do?
If you receive an injury, which also includes sprains and fractures, you must immediately record them at the emergency room, that is, obtain a special document. If the employer refuses to give sick leave or admit guilt, you have the right to sue him.
- The employer thinks I can work, what should I do?
Many employers believe that if a person does not faint, then he is very efficient. To prove otherwise, you need to visit a doctor who will make a diagnosis and provide a document about it.
- How to extend sick leave?
If you need more time to recover, then you also go to the doctor and get his opinion. It is important to document all facts so as not to get absenteeism.
- I'm pregnant, when can I go on maternity leave, according to the law?
At the antenatal clinic, the doctor will calculate in more detail the expected date of birth and vacation. In most cases, it turns out to be 140 days, 70 before birth and the same amount after.
- I work without an officially concluded contract. Am I entitled to receive maternity benefits? I have never worked anywhere before. Maybe there is an opportunity to prove that I worked for a specific employer?
It's not a matter of proof, but of the legality of actions. The employer is obliged to pay taxes and provide a full package of services. By hiring, but not drawing up a contract, the employer and employee are breaking the law. No benefits will be paid.
- If I worked until 2015, then took a break and went to work in 2021 with the same employer. When calculating sick leave, will they be able to calculate my length of service for 2015 and earlier?
If at this moment the employment was official and the employer paid contributions, then the length of service will be taken into account.
- I have a slight fever, is it worth taking sick leave?
Many workers, faced with a slight illness, cannot decide whether to go on sick leave or treat themselves. It all depends on your intuition and immunity - someone can lower their temperature in a day or two, while others sit on antibiotics for a week. If you have already had situations where a slight ailment developed into a serious illness, then you should take a sick leave for a few days and recover.
- Can an employer force you to take sick leave?
The employer can give advice or try to negotiate. If you are sick and your boss sees that it’s hard, then you should take sick leave. Remember that you work in a team and it is easy to infect others. However, no employer has the right to send you on sick leave under an order.
- Is it possible to take work home instead of taking sick leave?
In some situations, when it is unprofitable on both sides to take sick leave, the employer, if possible, agrees on temporary work from home - all reports are sent by email.
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