How many years are sick leave certificates stored in an organization (2021)

0

197

4 min.

The law requires organizations and individual entrepreneurs to store documents related to the personal data of employees. The reasons are different - calculation of benefits, pensions, salaries, compensation and other payments, provision of other opportunities. The storage period for sick leave at the enterprise is clearly defined; violation will entail the imposition of administrative sanctions on officials whose contract stipulates this obligation.

Why keep sick leave certificates?

Certificates of incapacity for work confirm how correctly the funds of the Social Insurance Fund were spent. When conducting inspections, the FSS often requires the presentation of original documents on the basis of which employees were paid money.

Proper storage of sick leave certificates in the organization will eliminate claims from regulatory authorities and possible collection of arrears due to insufficient documentary evidence of expenses. Please note that the period for which sick leave stubs are stored in a medical institution is only three years (clause

12 Instructions on the procedure for providing forms of certificates of incapacity for work, their recording and storage). After three years, it will no longer be possible to confirm the legality of payment in case of loss of a disability form by requesting a copy of the receipt at the clinic.

ConsultantPlus experts analyzed how sick leave (not a pilot project) and a pilot project are paid. Use these instructions for free.

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.

Where should organizations store them?

All primary documents related to cash payments are usually located in the accounting department of the enterprise. Storing certificates of incapacity for work is no exception to this rule. The law does not establish how to store sick leave in the accounting department in 2021, so we proceed from two principles:

• ensuring the safety of documents;
• the ability to quickly find the form you need.

In order to ensure the safety of papers, a safe or a metal cabinet equipped with locks is usually used where sick leave certificates are stored after payment. To easily find the required document, create a special journal for registration, based on the data in which you can see when sick leave was received and how long it is kept in the accounting department of your organization, as well as their details.

The form of such a journal is not established by law, but for ease of use it is advisable to provide the following columns:

• serial number;
• date of submission of the form by the employee;
• Full name of the employee;
• position, structural unit;
• number and date of issue of the document;
• name of the medical institution;
• period of release from work.

If the organization is large, it is permissible by order of the manager to appoint someone responsible for the safety of reporting forms, and to provide columns in the journal with a note indicating that the document has been submitted after processing to the employee responsible for storage.

General rules for storing documentation

The storage periods for all documents that are used in the course of the organization’s activities are approved by Order of the Ministry of Culture of the Russian Federation No. 558 of August 25, 2010. According to paragraph 896 of the Order, the storage period for sick leave in an organization is set at 5 years.

The deadlines established by the Order of the Ministry of Culture are used if for certain documentation preservation periods are not established in higher-ranking legislative acts.

Hierarchy of legislative acts of the Russian Federation at the federal level:

1. Constitution.
2. Federal constitutional laws.
3. Codes.
4. Federal laws.
5. Acts of the President of the Russian Federation.
6. Acts of the Government of the Russian Federation.
7. Regulatory acts of ministries and departments.

How long to store and what to do later

The storage period for sick leave in an organization in 2021, in accordance with the order of the Federal Archive No. 236 dated December 20, 2019 “On approval of the List of standard management archival documents generated in the course of the activities of state bodies, local governments and organizations, indicating their storage periods,” is five years. However, as we said above, certificates of incapacity for work refer to the documents necessary for the calculation and payment of insurance premiums, and the taxpayer is obliged to ensure their safety for six years (clause

Expert opinion

Gusev Pavel Petrovich

Lawyer with 8 years of experience. Specialization: family law. Has experience in defense in court.

6 clause 3.4 art.

23 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation). Therefore, when deciding on the period for storing sick leave in the archive, it is recommended to adhere to the position of tax legislation.

After six years, the forms can be destroyed. But please note that these documents contain personal information about workers, so they cannot simply be thrown away.

After drawing up and signing an act on the allocation of papers for destruction, they must either be destroyed independently using a shredder, or transferred for disposal to a specialized organization.

Writing off sick leave after time has expired

Expert opinion

Novikov Oleg Tarasovich

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

After the specified period, the documents are subject to destruction. You can’t just throw it away, shred it in a shredder, or burn the papers. There are instructions that need to be followed. The main points are defined in Orders No. 18/29 and No. 526 of the Ministry of Culture of the Russian Federation. Procedure:

• determine how many years to keep sick leave records in the accounting department;
• create a commission or involve a separate employee to determine the list of documents that are subject to destruction;
• draw up an act;
• actually get rid of a bunch of papers.

By order of the Social Insurance Fund and the Ministry of Health of the Russian Federation No. 29 dated January 29, 2004. a special form of the act on the destruction of the counterfoils of forms whose storage period has expired has been approved. In addition to general information, indicate the full details of sick leave (number, full name of the employee, period of sick leave).

After drawing up, signing and checking that they are filled out correctly, the documents can be sent for disposal or destroyed yourself. The legislator does not define the method, but it should be indicated. If papers are sent for recycling, appropriate confirmation must be attached. Destruction reports are collected and stored in a separate folder.

Temporary disability forms confirm the employee’s lawful absence and the possibility of his failure to perform work duties within a certain period. If sick leave stubs are not found during the FSS check, a report is drawn up. Persons responsible for the proper preservation of documents are subject to administrative penalties. In addition, it is important to adhere to established rules for journal design. In the event of force majeure and unintentional destruction of sick leave certificates, confirmation from a government agency must be attached. Therefore, you need to know how long sick leave certificates are stored in the organization - this period is at least six years.

Procedure for storing electronic certificates of incapacity for work

With the transition to electronic document management, accountants and personnel officers have a question about how much sick leave and calculations for them are stored at the enterprise when they are processed electronically. According to the explanations of the FSS, the employer does not need to save electronic certificates of incapacity for work and print out copies of them.

The safety of information is ensured by the unified electronic system “Sotsstrakh”, and the organization can obtain the necessary information at any time.

• home
• About company
• Our services
• Articles
• Question answer
• Contacts

How long should sick leave be kept at an enterprise?

Due to the fact that supervisory authorities may request strict reporting forms at any time, the employer has no doubt that they (the forms) must be kept safe. However, during the operation of an enterprise or institution, a lot of documents accumulate, and the question arises of how to organize the conditions for storing archival documentation.

First of all, the employer must find an appropriate room in which sick leave certificates and other documentation can be stored. In addition, the enterprise must have a staff member whose responsibility would be to systematize and record the archive.

As for the shelf life of sick leave in an organization, modern legislation requires their storage for 5 years.

In addition to sick leave, this rule applies to:

• all financial statements;
• accounting registers;
• primary documentation.

Sick leave records are the primary accounting documents.

But due to tax duties, employers must keep documents required for the calculation and payment of insurance for 6 years. Accordingly, certificates of incapacity for work also fall into this category. Thus, the storage period for sick leave certificates in the archive is also calculated at 6 years.

Finally, to ensure that supervisors can carry out inspections comfortably, employers are advised to maintain a sick leave log. The sick leave notes themselves are not stored together with other documentation. The most convenient form of storage is to file them in another folder.

A few words about 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 as to what type of document the sick leave belongs to, because

The order and period of 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.

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.