How is sick leave closed and what happens if you leave it open?

Legislation

The procedure for confirming the fact of illness, as well as the forms of documents on the basis of which this is carried out, are determined by legislative and regulatory acts.

Among the main ones it is worth highlighting:

• Federal Law of December 29, 2006 No. 255-FZ
• Labor Code of the Russian Federation
• Decree of the Government of the Russian Federation of April 21, 2011 No. 294
• Orders of the Ministry of Health and Social Development of the Russian Federation dated June 29, 2011 No. 624n, and dated January 24, 2012 No. 31n

Not only the general provisions are determined that should be considered injuries, but also individual nuances are considered that can arise during the process of the disease itself, as well as in different situations of its registration. In addition, a uniform type of certificate of incapacity for work has been introduced for all employers and employees, as well as the procedure for filling it out, recording it, and paying it.

Thus, at the legislative level, general specific conditions and procedures for the parties to act in the event of a worker’s incapacity for work are defined. Failure to comply with these rules is fraught with refusal to pay sick leave for the employee, as well as financial sanctions in the form of losses for the company.

Remember, the period of incapacity and the necessary actions of the employee, medical institution, employer, Social Insurance Fund are fully described in the legislative acts and by-laws issued on their basis.

Is it necessary to close the ballot?

Until the ballot is closed, it will not be accepted for payment.
The Social Security Fund checks whether the ballot was written correctly. If the ballot is filled out with errors, payments will be denied. The longer the length of service, the more benefits the employee will receive. When the work activity is eight years, the benefit will be one hundred percent of income.

The procedure for preparing forms is regulated by two legal acts

An employee can open a ballot if he himself or his relatives become ill.

4 reasons for closing a ballot:

• employee recovery;
• improving the health of sick relatives whom he cared for;
• the end of the period on sick leave;
• patient's request.

The doctor can prescribe it if the patient’s health condition has improved and is not dangerous to others.

How sick leave is closed

Before considering the conditions for closing sick leave, it is advisable to familiarize yourself with the conditions on the basis of which they have the right to open it. This includes the following situations:

the onset of illness or injury to an employee

• when it is necessary to undergo a rehabilitation course in a medical institution after surgery
• performing prosthetics in stationary conditions
• the employee is in a quarantine zone (or when quarantine is declared in a preschool or school institution)
• the need to provide assistance (care) for a sick child, relative, or other incapacitated family member

It is important to note that having an open sick leave does not always mean that you are required to pay it in full. The legislator has provided for situations where an employer can completely or partially reduce the amount of sick leave pay. This list includes the following situations:

1. When a disabled citizen, during the period of his treatment, violates the regime determined by the attending physician.
2. Unreasonable refusal by the patient to undergo a regular medical examination or undergo a medical and social examination.
3. If the injury or illness is a consequence of the employee’s alcohol, drug, or toxicological intoxication.

Maintaining sick leave is clearly delineated between the medical institution and the employer. Each of them has its own fields to fill out. Payment for days of incapacity for work confirmed by a certificate of incapacity for work is carried out by the employer. The same document confirms the legality of the employee’s absence from the workplace.

Remember, a minimal violation of the procedure for maintaining sick leave is a direct basis for declaring it invalid and refusing to pay for the sick period.

Appearance of the certificate of incapacity for work

The closed certificate of incapacity for work is a strict reporting form in A4 format. It must be completely filled out, the sick leave extension columns must be crossed out and the date of return to work must be entered .

A photo of what a closed sick leave sheet looks like is shown below:

The main background of the sick leave sheet is light blue, the cells are pale yellow. The form has watermarks that can be checked for counterfeit. The form is signed by the attending physician and supported by a stamp and triangular seal. After its closure, the sick leave is submitted to the enterprise’s accounting department, where it is checked for authenticity and then paid.

Recovery of a relative

There are some nuances in the process of calculating compensation payments for periods of relatives’ incapacity. The fact is that at the legislative level, limits are defined on the periods for which cash payments are made. They depend on illnesses, degree of relationship, and social status of relatives.

In particular, the following periods will be paid in total for the year:

• 30 days if an adult relative is sick
• 45 days, children from 7 to 15 years
• 60 days, children under 7 years of age
• 70 days upon adoption of a child under 3 years of age
• 90 days when certain types of diseases defined by the Ministry of Health and Social Development are detected in children under 15 years of age
• 120 days if care is required for a disabled child under 18 years of age;
• from 140 to 194 days (depending on the conditions of pregnancy and childbirth) expectant mothers are entitled to before and immediately after childbirth
• no more than 5 months, if it is necessary to care for an incapacitated relative

The certificate of incapacity for work is closed immediately after the reasons (illness) for which it was opened have been eliminated.

Remember, the existing restrictions apply to each able-bodied family member separately. In other words, all able-bodied close relatives can take turns caring for other relatives and receiving compensation for this for a period specified by law.

End of the specified period

If legal limits are established, a natural question arises as to what will happen after they are exhausted. In this case, some nuances should be highlighted:

1. The end of the limit specified by law does not mean the automatic closure of sick leave. This is done by the doctor only after the patient has recovered. In this case, one document can be closed and a new one immediately opens.
2. Payments are subject to periods determined by law. If the limit is exhausted, the employee does not need to be recalled to work. They simply won’t pay for the extra period.
3. Payment limits apply to a specific citizen. If there are several able-bodied relatives in a family (father, mother, grandparents, older brothers and sisters), the limit for each of them is calculated separately.
4. If there are several children in one family, then the sick leave limit is also set separately for each child.
5. Limits are set for each citizen, and not for the company (after all, they are compensated by the Social Insurance Fund). Therefore, if an employee is employed at a new enterprise, it is advisable to clarify the balance of such days in order to correctly display it in the employee’s report card and not overpay in excess of the established norms.

Remember, the end of sick leave does not always coincide with the actual end of the illness. In this case, only the periods specified by law will be paid within the maximum permitted amounts.

Who has the right to close sick leave

The attending physician has the right to close the sick leave. The legislator allows such procedures to be performed both in one and different medical institutions. The procedure begins after the end of the illness and the actual recovery of the patient.

If a citizen wants to close his sick leave in another medical institution (usually at his place of residence), he will need:

• prepare identification documents, a medical card with medical history
• go to a medical facility in person
• undergo an examination by a specialized doctor who is authorized to establish and confirm the relevant diagnoses
• receive a closed certificate of incapacity for work from a doctor
• Apply the necessary stamps and seals through the registry

Next, the citizen must, with a document signed by the medical institution, contact his employer, where the personnel department will fill in the missing information.

Remember, it doesn’t matter where the certificate of incapacity for work was opened and closed. The main thing is that the institution and the specialists filling it out have the appropriate permitting licenses and certificates.

Where and by whom can the procedure be performed?

An employee can receive a sick leave certificate (that is, both open and close it) only in institutions specified by law. These include all organizations that are licensed to carry out medical activities. The form of ownership does not matter in this case - the institution can be state, municipal or private, the only important thing is the presence of a license.

The list of specialists who have the right to close the sheet includes:

• attending physicians of medical organizations;
• dentists and paramedics (but only if they have permission from the regional FSS of the Russian Federation);
• attending physicians at clinics of research institutes or institutions (also subject to permission to do so, but from the Ministry of Health).

It is worth considering that the document should be closed only in the medical institution where it was opened. Moreover, this must be done by the doctor who originally discovered it. Compliance with this requirement is especially important in cases where, during the illness, the patient was treated or examined by several different doctors or even in different institutions.

If the patient was treated in a hospital, then it will be impossible to close the sheet before discharge from the medical institution.

In the event that the completion of treatment will be carried out at home, the right to close sick leave can be granted to the local doctor of the clinic located at the employee’s place of registration.

Is it possible to close on a weekend or retroactively?

The concept of “backdating” is often associated with document falsification. Therefore, many believe that such a procedure is legally impossible in principle. Of course, in ordinary cases when the patient is sick, this can be regarded as such. But sometimes situations arise when, at the legislative level, it is allowed to draw up sick leave documents retroactively. This is possible in the following cases:

1. During pregnancy. Few people can determine exactly when the baby will be born. Therefore, here the certificate of incapacity for work is issued “at random” and can even be closed retroactively.
2. Citizens who are raising children under 15 years of age, as well as in cases where children have HIV infection.
3. If an employee is provided with care for a child suffering from cancer, tuberculosis, or another serious illness.
4. When an employee on a shift schedule needs to go to work on a doctor’s official day off. Here the sick leave will be closed in advance (on the doctor’s official working day).

Remember, the law allows for retroactive closing of sick leave in some cases. But such exceptions to the rules are clearly described in the relevant documents.