Violations and penalties Falsification of sick leave: what is the penalty for forgery

15.07.2019
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5 minutes.

One of the most common ways to justify absence from work is a fictitious doctor's certificate. Given the scale of the phenomenon, there is liability for falsifying sick leave, which implies disciplinary measures, a fine and even criminal prosecution. Falsification is detected at several stages. Even if the HR department or accounting department at work failed to detect the forgery, the Social Insurance Fund, where the certificate is sent for calculating compensation, will definitely identify violations. Having established the fictitious nature of the sheet, management or the insurer themselves decide whether to bring the information to law enforcement agencies or not. The maximum penalty for this offense is imprisonment for up to 2 years.

What signs of a fake sick leave does the FSS indicate?

The procedure for issuing certificates of incapacity for work is established by order of the Ministry of Health and Social Development dated June 29, 2011 No. 624n.
This document indicates which medical institutions and which categories of insured persons can issue certificates of incapacity for work, and also provides the procedure for obtaining sick leave. A fake sick leave certificate can be of two types: completely fake or partially fake. In the case of a completely false sick leave certificate, the form of such a document may have the following characteristics:

• watermarks may be missing;
• The quality of the paper and the printing of the form may differ; the hatching lines of a counterfeit form may differ from the original.

Signs of a partially fake certificate of incapacity for work, prepared on a valid form:

• a non-existent medical institution or an institution that does not have the right to issue sick leave certificates and does not have a license from the Ministry of Health with the right to carry out work (services) on the examination of temporary disability may be indicated;
• the name of a doctor who is not actually working may be indicated on the specified certificate of incapacity for work;
• there may be no number or a non-existent number of the certificate of incapacity for work;
• Traces of etching, erasures, and corrections may be visible.

In especially difficult cases, a fake sick leave certificate may have all the signs of a real one: the number is correct, the doctor works in the specified medical institution, which has the right to issue certificates of incapacity for work. However, checking the documentation in a medical institution and comparing the data in this documentation with the data on a fake sick leave may show that there (in the documents and in the sick leave) the patient’s last name or the period of issue of the sick leave, date of issue, diagnosis, etc. do not match.

ATTENTION! A list of fake and stolen sick leave certificates can be found on the FSS website. The Foundation constantly updates it. See also: “Checking sick leave by number online on the FSS website.”

A fake certificate of incapacity for work and an incorrectly completed form are not the same thing. In the second case, when filling out a form that has all the signs of authenticity, errors were made (by the medical institution or the employer), which prevents the FSS from paying for such a certificate of incapacity for work.

In order to avoid mistakes in filling out a sick leave certificate, we recommend that you read the article: “An example of filling out a sick leave certificate by an employer.”

Terminology and legislative framework

A sick leave certificate is a document indicating incapacity for work, which is filled out in strict accordance with the rules.
Violation of them is followed by sanctions from the FSS, which will refuse to accept certificates and, as a result, compensate funds. It follows that the defrauded company will be forced to pay for his sick leave on its own. Only a medical institution can open and close a certificate, and the circle of persons allowed for this procedure is strictly limited:

• Attending physicians;
• Dentists;
• Paramedics.

In addition, there is a list of strict rules regarding filling out the document.
Thanks to them, it is technically impossible to make a fake sick leave at home. The complexity of the procedure is not much different from printing money. The basis for opening a certificate is illness, injury, need to care for a sick person or relative, pregnancy, quarantine measures, sanatorium treatment. The issuance is carried out by a medical institution that has a state license. The absence of this certificate makes the document invalid. The legislative basis for issuing sick leave is Federal Law No. 323, which specifies the basics of providing medical care to citizens of the Russian Federation. The certificate form was approved by Order of the Ministry of Health No. 624n with clear regulation of the issuance, procedure and features of completion. Only gel (ink) pen, capital letters (except signature), black ink (gel) are acceptable. Computer printing is permitted, but the signature must comply with the rules.

Fake sick leave: consequences for the employer

What are the consequences of a fake sick leave certificate for an employer? If an organization has accepted for registration a certificate of incapacity for work, which, upon verification, turns out to be counterfeit, then the Social Insurance Fund does not reimburse the funds paid by the organization to the employee under such a certificate. If compensation has already occurred, then the employer who accepted the false document is obliged to return to the Social Insurance Fund the funds received by the employee illegally.

If the employee continues to work in the organization at the time of detection of the counterfeit, the latter may withhold funds illegally received by the employee from his salary. If the unscrupulous employee managed to quit, then the company will have to pay funds to the Social Insurance Fund, and deal with the employee through the courts. That is, in any case, the organization returns the funds received under a false sick leave certificate to the Social Insurance Fund.

If the circumstances of the case occur in the region included in the experiment, then the Social Insurance Fund directly pays the employee funds for certificates of incapacity for work. If it is subsequently revealed that the sheet is counterfeit (which is almost impossible in the circumstances of the experiment), then the FSS will recover funds from the violator in court.

Most often, inconsistencies and inconsistencies in documents are identified during inspections.

For an unscrupulous employee who provides a fake sick leave certificate, more unpleasant consequences may occur.

How to distinguish a fake document from an original

A sick leave certificate is issued taking into account certain rules that are followed by medical workers. Let's consider all the signs that allow us to distinguish a “fake” document from a real one:

1. Paper quality . It is dense to the touch, slightly rustling. Reminiscent of the paper from which banknotes are made.
2. Color. The document is pale blue. All other colors excluded, including bright blue and bright green
3. Ink. The letters are filled in with black paste. It looks like a paste from a gel pen. Any other color or writing style is excluded.
4. Barcode. It is in the upper right corner. Its absence indicates a fake. In some cases, the presence of a barcode does not indicate its authenticity. It should not be printed on the back of the sick leave certificate. In this case, you can check the authenticity using the FSS database on the official website or call a medical institution to clarify the barcode number.
5. White square in the left corner. It is designed for matrix code. However, not all organizations provide it. This is completely legal. It is worth paying attention to something else. Take the sick leave sheet in your hands and point it at the light source. The FSS coat of arms or logo should appear in the place of the white square. If they are not there, then the document is obviously fake.
6. Information about the attending physician. The position and full name of the specialist must be indicated. The data is certified by a personal signature or individual doctor number. One call to a medical institution and this information can be refuted or confirmed. As a rule, the employer resorts to this method.
7. Information about the medical institution . The official name and address must match the information on the seal. You can check any information about a clinic or hospital on the Internet. Particular attention should be paid to the license of the medical institution. Without it, issuing sick leave is illegal.
8. Seal. The official stamp has the inscription in the center - “for certificates of incapacity for work.” They also pay attention to any symbols that differ from the original ones of each particular medical institution.
9. Filling rules . In the section “To be completed by a doctor of a medical organization” there is no period of treatment or other data about the patient or the attending physician. Cells for information are yellow. In “fake” documents they are usually white.

These signs will allow you to distinguish a fake document from an original one with almost 100% probability. In addition, with the help of a magnifying glass and detailed examination, you can see the protective fibers. They are clearly visible under ultraviolet light. They come in three types: light green, blue or pink.

ATTENTION! The punishment for fake sick leave can be very severe. Dismissal from work cannot be compared with imprisonment for up to 2 years.

Forgery of sick leave: employee responsibility

The accounting department (HR department) received a fake sick leave: the employee’s liability is provided for in Article 327 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation. This article implies liability both for the production or participation in the production of a false document, and for the use of a deliberate forgery.

If it is proven in court that the employee independently prepared a fake sick leave, he will face restriction or imprisonment for up to 2 years. If the sick leave certificate is a false alibi in another criminal case, then the use of such a false document is punishable by up to 4 years.

If an employee knows that the sick leave is fake, but uses it by providing it to his employer, he may face a fine, correctional or compulsory labor, or arrest for up to 6 months.

Moreover, the fact that the employee knew about the illegal origin of the document must be proven in court.

Even if the organization does not contact the prosecutor’s office or initiate a criminal case against the unscrupulous employee, there will still be liability: the employee will be recognized as having missed the period that he was going to “cover” with sick leave. For absenteeism, he may be fired, or subject to other disciplinary action, as well as a fine. In addition, the employee will have to reimburse the company (or the Social Insurance Fund) for the amount of illegally obtained income in the form of payment for a false certificate of incapacity for work.

Buying fake sick leave on the Internet

A lot of sites offer to issue a sick leave certificate. Prices start from 1500 rubles. As a rule, confidentiality is promised. But to fill out a certificate of incapacity for work, the employee’s real data is required, so there is no question of anonymity. In essence, a citizen transmits information about himself to complete strangers.

In addition, it will not be difficult for the employer to call the telephone number of the medical institution indicated on the certificate of incapacity for work (if it exists at all) and find out the truth in a couple of minutes.

“Purchasing” a fake certificate of incapacity for work via the Internet entails exactly the same responsibility as purchasing it “from hand”, therefore, our site strongly recommends that you refrain from such “purchases”.

An employee brought a fake sick leave: the employer's procedure

In accordance with paragraph 1 of Art. 12 of the Law “On Compulsory Social Insurance...” dated December 29, 2006 No. 255, the employee is obliged to provide sick leave to the organization at the place of work no later than 6 months from the day when his working capacity is recognized as restored.

The sick leave certificate is submitted by the employee to the accounting department or personnel service, depending on the internal procedures of the enterprise. Employees of the department responsible for accepting certificates of incapacity for work must conduct a visual check of the authenticity of the document provided:

• does the sick leave form comply with the established template;
• Are there any erasures, etching, or corrections?

If there are no obvious signs of forgery, but doubts about the authenticity of the document remain, the accounting or human resources employee who accepted the dubious sick leave certificate from the employee must initiate an audit.

To do this, you need to contact the enterprise security service (if there is one), check the authenticity of the sick leave certificate at the medical institution that issued it, and check the form on the FSS website.

If during an initial visual inspection or when checking data on a certificate of incapacity it is revealed that the document is counterfeit, the employee who discovered this fact must act in accordance with the legislation of the Russian Federation and the instructions of his enterprise.

First of all, he can warn the employee who provided the document that the sick leave is fake. An employee aware of the illegal origin of the document will try to take it away and avoid subsequent proceedings.

If the employee is not aware that the sick leave provided by him is fake, then the accounting or personnel service employee must report the incident to his boss. The latter resolve the issue with management - initiate an internal investigation or contact the prosecutor's office.

If a false certificate of incapacity for work is accepted by the enterprise for payment and subsequently, in the prescribed manner, is presented to the FSS for compensation, then upon detection of its forgery, the enterprise will be obliged to compensate the damage to the FSS.

How to punish the offending employee: whether to contact the prosecutor’s office to initiate a case of forgery, whether to confine himself to dismissal for absenteeism and/or other possible punishment options, the enterprise decides independently.

There is no liability for failure to report a crime of this kind, such as forgery of a sick leave certificate, in the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation. But it should be remembered that falsifying a document is a serious crime. By releasing an unscrupulous employee from liability, without sending a case of forgery to the prosecutor's office, the company thereby indulges such a person in his illegal activities, which can lead to more serious offenses.

Additional information about the rules for issuing certificates of incapacity for work

No. 624n - this is the designation of the order of the Ministry of Health and Social Development of Russia, which regulates the rules for issuing sick leave. Here are two main cases when hospitals issue such documents:

• A woman going on leave due to the birth of a child and carrying it to term.
• Illness of the citizen himself or family members.

The sheet is handed over when the sick leave is closed or when the illness itself occurs.
Based on such documents, citizens are subsequently issued benefits. Sick leave is issued for up to 15 days if illnesses are treated at home. In other situations, to increase or decrease the time, a decision of a special commission, which includes several doctors, is required.

The gynecologist draws up a document in case of pregnancy and childbirth when women apply. It is usually issued at 30 weeks of pregnancy. Issue is one-time, for a total period of up to 140 days.

Since 2015, Russia began to switch to an electronic form of sick leave.

So, a situation is allowed where an employee voluntarily compensates for damage if it was possible to reach an agreement with the employer. This applies to both monetary compensation and the form of material assets. Employers are given the right to fire offenders or apply other types of punishment. Sometimes they are allowed to resign at their own request.

Falsification of sick leave certificates involves several types of liability, including criminal liability. The authenticity of the document is easy to verify; both parties should remember this.

Video about the investigation of forgery of sick leave certificates:

Results

A fake sick leave can be of two types:

• on a counterfeit letterhead produced in an illegal manner;
• on a valid form, stolen, processed in any way, in which real data has been changed or invalid ones have been entered.

An enterprise that discovers a fake decides independently what to do with the employee who provided a fake sick leave. Most often, enterprises do not turn to the prosecutor’s office, but limit themselves to collecting damages and dismissal.

A person who decides to use a false document must know that his actions fall under Art.
327 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation and are assessed as a criminal offense with serious consequences - imprisonment from two to four years. In the “mildest version”, the violator can get off with a fine, but he will still be provided with a criminal article in his biography. You can find more complete information on the topic in ConsultantPlus. Free trial access to the system for 2 days.