How many days a year can you be sick on sick leave?

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Published: 05/06/2016

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There is no benefit for an employer to keep such an employee who “stamps” sick leave certificates like a copy machine.

Law No. 255-FZ, in its sixth article, took this circumstance into account and limited the length of stay on sick leave.

• An employee is sick
• An employee's relative is sick
• Day limit distribution: controversial situations Meeting of two limits Example

About the number of paid days

A certificate of incapacity for work issued by a doctor confirms a valid reason for the employee’s absence from the workplace. The period during which a person will be paid for sick leave is indicated in order No. 624n dated June 29, 2011, valid until mid-December 2021, and from December 14, 2020, a new procedure for processing sick leave comes into force, approved. by order of the Ministry of Health and Social Development dated 01.09.2020 No. 925n.

The number of days of absence may not coincide with the number of paid days. In certain cases, the employer has the right to accrue benefits for a shorter period. The payment procedure will depend, first of all, on the reason for the sick leave. The main regulatory act regulating the assignment of disability payments is Federal Law No. 255-FZ of December 29, 2006.

Nuances when paying sick leave

The calculation of sick leave has its own nuances. For example, if an employee of an institution received an industrial injury and is entitled to sick leave, then he is obliged to receive 270 thousand rubles, regardless of how long he lost his ability to work.

If we are talking about sick leave in connection with pregnancy, then the employer is not obliged to pay funds even for the first three days - this responsibility is fully assumed by the Social Insurance Fund.

So, we figured out that the number of days that an employee of an institution can take in one calendar year depends on the cause of disability. However, it should be borne in mind that not all days in this case will be paid. The amount of payments depends on the reason for which sick leave was given. We also learned that the amount of payments depends on the employee’s salary for the last two years and this indicator is dramatically influenced by length of service.

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How many days will a sick employee be paid?

If an employee falls ill or is injured, including at work, he will be paid for all days of sick leave without restrictions, regardless of the duration of treatment (Clause 1, Article 6 of Law No. 255-FZ).

The certificate of incapacity for work must be issued in accordance with certain rules (chapter of order No. 624n):

• a period that can only be confirmed by the attending physician - 15 calendar days, by a paramedic, dentist - 10 days;
• the further period of treatment is established by a medical commission at least every 15 days;
• the maximum period of sick leave is no more than 10 months; in case of tuberculosis, trauma or after reconstructive surgery, sick leave can be extended to 12 months (in 2021, other rules will apply, we will discuss this below).

If the employee was on unpaid leave or to care for children, sick leave is issued (and paid) after its end.

After the dismissal of an employee, benefits are also paid to him, but only if the former employee fell ill within 30 days from the date of dismissal (Clause 2, Article 5 of Law No. 255-FZ).

Minimum period of sick leave

Illness or injury often causes a temporary loss of the ability to perform one's direct duties. In such circumstances, it is necessary to officially confirm the fact of loss of ability to work and justify your absence from the workplace.

The procedure for recording a state of temporary disability, registration, conditions, terms and amount of compensation are regulated by the labor and tax codes of the Russian Federation, Federal Law No. 323, PPRF No. 375, Orders of the Ministry of Health and Social Development No. 624n and No. 31n and Federal Law No. 255.

According to these regulations, the fact of illness is confirmed by a certificate of temporary incapacity for work. It is issued on an official form approved by order of the Ministry of Health and certified with the seal of the medical institution.

It should include the following information:

• honey. the organization that issued the sheet;
• employer organization;
• personal data of the sick person;
• data of the doctor who observed the patient;
• application date and closing date;
• cause of disability;
• coded medical diagnosis according to ICD – 10.

At the request of the citizen who applied, the ballot can be issued both on the day of application and at the time of discharge.
If the patient chose to receive a newsletter at the initial visit, then upon discharge he provides the attending physician with a form to complete the closure. The latest news in the legislation on the procedure for issuing sick leave dates back to 2021 - it has become possible to issue a newsletter electronically.

If an employee does not provide this document, days of absence may be considered absenteeism.

Important: setting a sick leave date earlier than the recorded day of presentation is prohibited. The exception is when a citizen consults a doctor in the evening, after the end of the working day.

Reasons for temporary release from work may include:

1. Vital indications (illnesses and injuries).
2. Preventive (follow-up treatment in a specialized sanatorium).
3. Social (endoprosthetics, dental prosthetics, care for sick family members).

The minimum period for how long you can sit on sick leave is not specified in any regulatory act. The doctor has the right to set it at his own discretion, based on his own experience and well-being of the patient.

In practice, the minimum rehabilitation time is rarely less than 3 days, regardless of the conditions in which treatment is performed. This period may be changed, taking into account the specific situation of the patient.

The exception is complex and painful diagnostic, preventive procedures and manipulations performed in outpatient settings. When they are carried out, they are entitled to a one-day release from work.

Compensation

Wages are not accrued for hours not worked. Instead, the patient will be given compensation for lost labor income.

Sick leave for up to 3 days is paid from the funds of the employer’s organization. Beyond this period, financing is provided from the resources of the social insurance fund.

The following have the right to receive payments from the Social Insurance Fund:

• officially employed and self-employed persons who regularly make payments to the Social Insurance Fund;
• persons registered with the central control center;
• former employees of the organization who fell ill before the expiration of a month from the date of termination of the employment contract;
• employees dismissed due to the closure of an enterprise or individual entrepreneur whose pregnancy occurred no later than 12 months from the date of dismissal.

Persons whose professional activities do not provide for the payment of contributions to the Federal Mandatory Health Insurance Fund receive payments equal to 100% of their salary from public funds.
These include specialists employed in the Ministry of Internal Affairs, military personnel and other categories of civil servants. To receive compensation, the sick leave sheet must be submitted to the organization’s accounting department no later than 6 months after its official closure. The transfer of funds will occur on the nearest date of salary payment, but not earlier than 10 days after the provision of a closed sick leave certificate. Please note: when paying for the period of illness, personal income tax is withheld.

The amount of compensation to be accrued will be influenced by the average salary for 2 years and length of service.

The amount of compensation will be equal to:

1. 100% for work duration of more than 8 years.
2. 80% if work experience is from 5 to 8 years.
3. 60% should be calculated if the period of work is less than 5 full years.
4. The payment will be less than 60% if the length of service is less than 6 months. In this case, the calculation will take place in accordance with the minimum wage.

The approximate amount of the payment that will be due in a particular case can be calculated online on specialized websites using a payment calculator.

Payments for pregnancy and childbirth, upon adoption of children

Article of Law No. 255-FZ establishes the maximum duration of paid maternity leave. Payments are calculated based on the number of calendar days indicated on the certificate of incapacity for work:

• in general, sick leave according to BiR is issued for 140 days;
• if the birth of 2 or more babies is expected - 194 days;
• in case of a complication arising during childbirth - 156 days.

A sick leave certificate can be issued for a fewer number of days if a woman does not apply to a medical institution for its registration in a timely manner.

When adopting one baby under 3 months of age, payment is made for the period from the date of adoption until 70 days from the date of birth of the child, and when adopting 2 or more children at the same time - up to 110 days from the date of their birth.

How is sick leave benefit calculated?

Sick leave certificates are paid in the following manner established by law:

1. An employee applies to a medical organization to obtain a sick leave certificate (if he is a part-time worker and works officially at each place of work, he asks for several copies of the document to be issued at once).
2. The sick leave certificate is transferred directly to the head of the organization in which he works, to an accountant or to an employee of the human resources department. The document is the basis for issuing an order for the calculation and accrual of sick leave benefits. In some cases, vacation is also extended on the basis of sick leave.
3. The accountant calculates sick leave benefits for the entire period of illness specified in the document. To do this, he will need certificates of the employee’s income from previous places of employment if he joined the company later than 2 years ago. Sick leave benefits are calculated based on the employee’s income over the last 2 years.
4. The accountant pays the employee sick leave benefits for all days of sick leave. The calculation of the full amount of compensation is transferred to the Social Insurance Fund, and in the future the employer will have the opportunity to reduce the amount of mandatory contributions (for sick days, starting from the fourth). If it turns out that the document is fake, the employer will suffer losses, since the Social Insurance Fund will not compensate him for expenses.

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When calculating the total income for the 24 months preceding the insured event, only those payments from which contributions were made to the Social Insurance Fund are taken into account. These include salaries, bonuses, allowances, additional payments, increasing coefficients (for work in the Far North, for hazardous working conditions, etc.) and so on. The amounts of one-time cash incentives, anniversary bonuses, financial assistance, and cash gifts are not taken into account.

Payment when caring for a sick relative

Care for sick family members is also paid. But the timing of the calculation of benefits depends on how old the relative is.

When paying for sick leave for child care, the age of the child and what illness he has are taken into account (Clause 5, Article 6 of Law No. 255-FZ, Clause of Order No. 624n):

• up to 7 years - paid for up to 60 days per year (regardless of the number of cases of the disease), and for diseases included in the special federal list - up to 90 days in connection with the specified disease (Order of the Ministry of Health and Social Development of the Russian Federation dated February 20, 2008 No. 84n);
• from 7 to 15 years - 45 calendar days are paid per year, while for each case of care no more than 15 days will be paid, unless a longer period is established by the medical commission;
• Treatment of a disabled child under 18 years of age is paid for up to 120 days a year;
• in case of HIV infection in a minor, the entire period of treatment in a hospital will be paid for during a joint stay in a medical institution;
• in the treatment of post-vaccination complications and malignant neoplasms, all days of care are paid without restrictions.

How many days a year is paid sick leave for an adult relative in need of care is stated in paragraphs. 6 clause 5 art. 6 of Law No. 255-FZ. The benefit is assigned for outpatient treatment for a period of up to 3 days (or no more than 7 days by decision of the commission) for each case of illness. In general, a maximum of 30 days are paid for the year - the number of days is calculated for each family member.

List of insurance cases for opening sick leave

The question of how many sick days an employee is paid per year usually arises from an employee of a private company who is afraid that the company will not comply with the conditions of the law. But the regulations clearly indicate the procedure for providing and paying for a citizen’s period of incapacity for work, and also provide insurance cases that give the right to open a sheet of the established form.

These include:

• Industrial or domestic injury.
• An illness of the person himself or his close relative that requires constant care (for example, a cold in a child).
• Treatment of chronic pathology in a sanatorium or dispensary.
• Complication of pregnancy.
• Prosthetics.
• Quarantine.
• Adoption of a child.

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If any of the listed cases occurs, the insured person with a compulsory medical insurance policy and a passport is obliged to contact the attending physician and receive release from work. The period is determined individually, since it can be difficult to predict how many days it will take to restore health.

In this case, sick leave is paid in full, even if the total period of incapacity for work is a year. But the FSS will take into account the severity of the disease and the presence of an official conclusion from the medical commission, because the duration of outpatient treatment is set by the attending physician independently only within two weeks.

Attention! 30 days of sick leave per year are paid for ordinary citizens who do not have chronic diseases or serious pathologies. All of them must be confirmed on paper.

Sick leave in case of quarantine

The number of sick leaves issued due to quarantine has increased significantly due to coronavirus. Payments are assigned based on certificates of incapacity for work, which are issued:

• persons who have been in contact with infected patients;
• citizens returning from abroad - from countries that are subject to coronavirus restrictions;
• persons over 65 years of age;
• parents of children under 7 years old, when a preschool institution is closed for quarantine;
• relatives of an incapacitated person sent to quarantine.

The entire quarantine period specified in the sick leave is paid (Clause 6, Article 6 of Law 255-FZ; Decree of the Government of the Russian Federation dated 04/01/2020 No. 402 as amended on 06/18/2020).