How long should an organization store sick leave in 2022?

Basic Concepts

A sick leave certificate is a document that is issued to an employee to confirm the legality of absence from work. Required for citizens who are officially employed. According to Art. 183 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation, the employee receives certain guarantees:

• receiving temporary disability benefits;
• retention of official position during the entire period of absence due to illness.

Sick leave and sick leave are identical documents. Regardless of the name, the same rules and regulations apply.

The terms and amounts of payments are fixed by separate federal laws. Strict reporting is required - assignment of serial numbers, fixed registers (journals certified by the seal and signatures of managers, a confirmation with the start and end date of the entries is glued to the back). Cases of sick leave registration:

1. Statement of the fact of illness, as a result of which the employee loses the ability to perform official duties;
2. The need to look after a close relative (care, including medical care);
3. Pregnancy, childbirth, adoption (other similar situations);
4. Quarantine;
5. Prosthetics in stationary conditions;
6. Recovery, sanatorium treatment (up to 24 days);
7. Other health-related situations.

Sick leave is issued for dental prosthetics, examination or tests. Usually for one or two days, although a health care provider may provide for longer.

The verdict on a citizen’s temporary incapacity for work is made only by a doctor. Forgery of a document is a violation of current legislation. An employee whose job description specifies the appropriate actions must know the storage period for sick leave in the archive, methods and conditions.

Attention! The company accepts only correctly completed forms, without errors or omissions. Employees need to check the correctness of registration in the medical institution.

Why do you need sick leave?

A sick leave certificate confirms that an employee has suffered injuries or illnesses that result in him or her being temporarily unable to perform his or her job.

If the duration of treatment for an injury or illness does not exceed 15 days, sick leave is issued by the attending physician; if this period is exceeded, by a special commission formed in the medical institution. The document is a strict reporting form, the procedure for its issuance and execution is regulated by the order of the Ministry of Health “On approval of the procedure for issuing certificates of incapacity for work” dated June 29, 2011 No. 624n.

When an employee presents a sick leave certificate in an organization, the question often arises of what type of document the sick leave belongs to, since both the procedure and the period for its storage/destruction depend on this. After all, a sick leave certificate, on the one hand, is a primary accounting document due to the requirements of Art. 9 of the Law “On Accounting” dated November 6, 2011 No. 402-FZ, since on its basis the organization makes payments to the employee, which is an unconditional fact of its economic activity. On the other hand, it also serves as the basis for paying the employee benefits from social insurance funds - therefore, at the same time it is also an insurance document.

Since insurance and accounting issues are regulated by various regulatory documents, we will consider the requirements of each of them.

Accounting legislation

Information about the time during which sick leave certificates cannot be destroyed is also mentioned in the Regulations on accounting and reporting (Order of the Ministry of Finance dated July 29, 1998 No. 34n) and the Tax Code.

The Accounting Regulations mention storage periods in paragraph 98. It requires all documents on which accounting is based to be stored for at least 5 years. These include:

• source documents;
• accounting registers;
• accounting statements.

The primary accounting documents include certificates of incapacity for work. Thus, according to accounting rules, sick leave records should be kept for at least five years.

Duration of storage and recording of sick leaves

Certificates of incapacity for work are issued in accordance with the procedure established by the Labor Code of the Russian Federation. A strict form and instructions for filling out have been developed. You can get them in your hands only in those medical institutions (public, private hospitals) that have a valid license. If the document was provided abroad, upon arrival it must be certified at the local medical center.

How long to store documents

Why do you need to store sick leave?

Saving sick leave certificates is necessary for both the organization and the employee. Companies are subject to various "studies". In particular, the Social Insurance Fund checks the availability, legality of registration and correctness of accruals.

Sick pay is an expense of a specific plan. The absence of originals is considered grounds for refusal to count data according to the FSS rules. This means that the employee will not receive compensation payments from the budget of the social insurance service. In case of disputes regarding length of service, payments, social benefits and compensation (for example, tax deductions), citizens may request confirmation in the form of original disability forms. The storage period for sick leave at the enterprise allows you to apply at any time, both during work and after dismissal (they cannot refuse to issue it).

Storage conditions

The Social Insurance Fund and the Ministry of Health of the Russian Federation developed order No. 18/29 dated January 29, 2004. “On approval of the Instructions on the procedure for providing forms of certificates of incapacity for work, their recording and storage.” The document regulates the order of completion and handling of strict reporting forms. How long sick leave certificates are kept and in what circumstances – these points are mandatory. Actual conditions according to the instructions (in points):

• point 6 – fireproof rooms or cabinets (upholstered in galvanized iron, equipped with internal/padlocks);
• point 7 – accounting by quantity in strict order, entries in registration and storage logs (stitched through, taped with a seal);
• clause 8 – mandatory compilation of records and availability of certificates of incapacity for work (once a quarter or more often);
• clause 10 – appointment of a responsible person with a corresponding entry in job responsibilities.

Advice! It is necessary to familiarize the employee with the Instructions and rules on how to store sick leave in the accounting department.

How and for how many years are sick leave certificates stored at the enterprise?

For example, if you are having dental treatment. then you need to remember that a dentist issues sick leave in some cases if there is an appropriate decision from the executive body of the Russian Federation in the field of healthcare.

Certain medical institutions do not have the right to issue certificates of temporary incapacity for work. These include, for example, ambulance stations, blood transfusions, etc. The legislator is no less demanding when it comes to the procedure for drawing up the document under consideration. There is a provision detailing in which columns what information is indicated, how to make corrections, etc. The legislator is no less strict about the procedure for storing and recording sick leave forms.

So, according to current legislation, the production of sick leave forms themselves is provided by the Social Insurance Fund. Medical organizations, be it a hospital in Irkutsk or dentistry in St. Petersburg. receive forms from the regional office of the Fund as needed. To do this, they submit an application in the prescribed form. The order mentioned above does not allow storing a stock of forms that exceeds the quarterly supply of needs.

It is necessary to understand that sick leave forms are a document of strict accountability, and the attitude towards them is special. They are stored in special sealed rooms, with reliable locks in special iron-lined cabinets. They are constantly recalculated, and the resulting amount is reconciled with the balance sheet account.

Doctors receive forms based on the order of the head of the medical organization for reporting. All sheets are stitched in the upper left corner, the spine of which remains after the sick leave certificate is issued to the patient. Then, when the doctor asks for new forms, he will have to hand over every single one.

At the same time, a medical institution, be it a clinic or dentistry. must store them for three years. After this period, they are destroyed, about which a special act must be drawn up.

But what if the doctor made a mistake and “ruined” the sick leave? The law allows amendments and erasures to be made to the certificate of incapacity for work, but only in the prescribed manner and in a certain quantity. If the document cannot be corrected, it is handed over to an authorized person, which is recorded in a special book. It records data on all damaged, lost or stolen forms. At the end of the year, this information is transferred to the territorial branch of the FSS.

The damaged forms themselves are placed in a special folder, the procedure for filing which is also strictly regulated by the Order. They are stored there for three years, after which they are destroyed by a specially created commission. This action is also necessarily accompanied by the drawing up of an act.

Sick leave log

As previously stated, the law does not provide for the obligation of employers to maintain such records. And if there is no such obligation, then the legislator will not bother himself with developing a standard form. Therefore, employers faced with the need to record and store sick leave records themselves develop the forms of such logs. They are guided by the general rules of expediency and the specifics of the work of the organization (entrepreneur).

When compiling such a journal, it is recommended to use the following document details and fields to fill out:

On the title page or first page of the magazine:

• name of the organization or full name of the entrepreneur, some basic details,
• start and end dates of logging,
• if a nomenclature of cases is maintained, then the index of this document according to the nomenclature of cases.

Journal page columns are intended for entering the following information:

1. Sequential number - the serial number of the sick leave in the journal,
2. Date of provision of the certificate of incapacity for work,
3. Last name, initials of the employee,
4. Position, name of the employee’s structural unit,
5. Sick leave number,
6. The name of the medical institution that issued the certificate of incapacity for work,
7. Start and end dates of disability,
8. Number of days of incapacity.

In an organization or entrepreneur where the accounting and registration of sick leave is entrusted to several employees, it is recommended to add the column “Signature of the employee who accepted the sick leave certificate.” But in any case, the contents of the document must be certified by the signature of the responsible employee. Therefore, it is recommended to provide space for such painting on each page.

Since sick leaves are subsequently transferred from the HR department to the accounting department, you can add a column to the sick leave log form for the signature of the accounting employee who received sick leave from the HR department. In the future, if the document is lost, this will avoid disputes about which department the sick leave was lost in.

As a general rule, log books must be bound, numbered, and sealed on the last page. On the last page, on the firmware, the signature of the head of the organization (entrepreneur) is affixed, indicating how many sheets have been stitched and numbered. The signature is sealed, if available. At the same time, if the head of an organization or an entrepreneur does not see the need for this, then it is not necessary to do this.

Such a log is stored and maintained, as a rule, in the personnel department, since this is the department that accepts sick leave from employees, calculates the length of service and transfers them to the accounting department for payment of disability benefits. If an organization or entrepreneur does not have a personnel officer, then usually an accountant handles all personnel matters, and if there is a need to maintain such a journal, then the accountant maintains it accordingly.

How to deal with electronic sick leave certificates

From July 1, 2017, in any region of the Russian Federation, not only paper, but also electronic sick leave can be issued. The possibility of registering it and paying disability benefits on its basis is stated in paragraph 5 of Article 13 of the 255-FZ. An electronic certificate of incapacity for work completely replaces its paper counterpart. The rules for such document flow are established by Decree of the Government of the Russian Federation dated December 16, 2017 No. 1567.

To be able to issue an electronic certificate of incapacity for work, the organization and medical institution must be connected to the Social Insurance Unified Information System. It is in this system that the medical institution issues sick leave. In it, the employer fills in the information necessary to calculate benefits.

There is no need to print out and store a paper version of an electronic sick leave certificate. All safety must be ensured by the Social Insurance information system.

Actions if the storage period has expired

The five years indicated in the List begin their countdown from the moment the calendar year to which the bulletin itself refers ends. All this time, documents are stored in one of the most convenient ways for the enterprise. But what to do if the deadline has expired and the audit never requested these documents? Is it possible to destroy them and how to do it?

It is important to read the instructions given in the List correctly. Some accounting documentation must be kept for an indefinite period of time before the inspection and for a limited period specified in the List after the inspection.

There are other types of papers that do not have such restrictions. Certificates of incapacity for work are kept for five years, regardless of whether they were verified during this time or not.

After the specified period, the forms are destroyed, but this must be done in strict order with established standards. Documents cannot simply be thrown into the nearest trash container.

Procedure for destroying documents

The procedure for disposing of sick leave sheets with expired shelf life will be as follows:

1. The archivist prepares folders that have already crossed the threshold of their mandatory storage.
2. A commission is created. The composition of the commission is approved by the head of the organization. The commission checks not only the storage periods to make sure that they have actually expired, but also the contents of the folder, so as not to destroy forms that may still be needed.
3. Then an act is drawn up, which includes information about the folders being destroyed.
4. The fact of disposal itself is documented in an additional document and directly depends on how exactly this procedure is carried out.

Typically the commission meets once or twice a year, but may be more often.

Recycling reports are stored permanently in a separate folder. The act indicates the folder number, its contents, the dates of its storage and the period of destruction. What to do with papers that have expired is decided within the organization. For example, they can be recycled for recycling or destroyed through a shredder. If the folders are recycled, then a copy of the TTN is attached to the act. If disposal is carried out in a different way, then an additional act is written about the method of destruction, time and place.

Destruction of sick leave certificates after their expiration date

At the end of the storage period, the certificates of incapacity for work are destroyed. But this does not mean that they can simply be burned or cut. The following actions must be performed:

1. Creation of a commission. A commission must be formed from the company’s employees, which will select expired documents.
2. Drawing up an act. Such a document will be required for future inspections or court cases. The act must include the details of all destroyed sick leave certificates.
3. Destruction of documents. After following the above procedure, documents can be destroyed in any convenient way (burn, throw away or send for recycling).

Compliance with this destruction procedure is prescribed in Order No. 526 of the Ministry of Culture of the Russian Federation.

Storing certificates of incapacity for work is a mandatory norm, which is enshrined in law. Failure to comply with this norm will lead to difficulties during the FSS inspection.

Is there a contradiction?

The lawyer will immediately think that there is no contradiction here, since the calculation of social security contributions has nothing to do with sick leave payments. However, the Tax Code of the Russian Federation, which we have already mentioned, views this issue differently. Art. 421 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation determines the base based on which insurance premiums are calculated. This base includes all payments to the employee that are accrued in his favor by the employer.

However, by virtue of Art. 422 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation, payments for sick leave are not included in this database. To put it simply, there is no need to pay contributions on sick leave money paid to an employee, since they will then be partially reimbursed to the organization from social insurance funds.

However, a sick leave certificate refers to the documents that are necessary for the calculation and payment of insurance premiums. For this kind of documents, sub. 6 clause 3.4 art. 23 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation provides for a storage period of 6 years.

Accordingly, when deciding how long to store sick leave in an organization, you need to be guided by the longest period, i.e. you need to store them for 6 years.

Retention periods for tax documents

Tax and accounting information, as well as other documents necessary for the calculation and payment of taxes, including documents confirming:

• receiving income;
• making expenses;
• tax withholding.

These norms are specified in the Tax Code of the Russian Federation - in subparagraph 8 of paragraph 1 of Article 23 and subparagraph 5 of paragraph 3 of Article 24 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation. The period is counted from the end of the tax period in which the document was last used for the following purposes:

• for reporting;
• for calculating and paying taxes;
• to confirm income received and expenses incurred.

The exception applies to documents confirming losses incurred. They must be kept for the entire period of reduction of the tax base of the current tax period by the amounts of previously received losses.

Books of purchases and sales, including additional sheets to them, must be kept for four years. In this case, the countdown is carried out from the moment of the last entry in the book. Invoices must be kept for five years.

There is a five-year retention period for tax returns and tax payments. There is an exception to this rule - declarations of individual entrepreneurs for the period up to 2002; they must be stored for 75 years. The calculation of insurance premiums is prohibited from being destroyed for 50 years from the date of preparation.

Documents for calculating and paying insurance premiums must be kept for 6 years. These include cards for individual accounting of the amounts of accrued payments and other remunerations, as well as the amounts of accrued insurance premiums.

Note. Individual accounting cards must be stored for 50 years in the absence of payroll records or personal accounts. There is no direct explanation regarding the timing of the storage period for documents used to calculate insurance premiums. In this case, we can apply an analogy with tax documents, in other words, the countdown begins after the end of the billing period in which the document was last used for the purpose of calculating and paying contributions, as well as reporting.

Correspondence with fiscal services must be stored for five years, including acts, notifications, demands, decisions, objections, resolutions, statements, complaints. The period may be doubled if the complaint was filed based on the results of an inspection - desk or field. All documents in electronic form with an electronic signature, as well as certificates of UKEP verification keys, which are endorsed by technological documents and complaints, must be stored for five years. These deadlines are calculated from the moment the document is received/sent.

As a reference, contracts for the purchase of goods, works and services to meet state and municipal needs are subject to storage for five years after termination of obligations.