The SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus epidemic has made its own adjustments to the work activities of Russians, in particular, it has raised the issue of obtaining sick leave - certificates of temporary incapacity for work due to illness or asymptomatic disease.
How long does sick leave last for coronavirus? What should you do if your close relative or neighbor gets sick, and you are a contact person? Is it possible to obtain a certificate of temporary disability remotely? In this article we will talk about the procedure for obtaining sick leave during coronavirus.
Who and when can take sick leave during coronavirus?
Only officially employed citizens can apply for payments for temporary disability from the Social Insurance Fund of the Russian Federation, from whose wages tax was withheld on a monthly basis.
Individual entrepreneurs (IP) and the self-employed, as well as people working without official employment, are not entitled to payments.
- A patient with confirmed coronavirus or viral pneumonia caused by CODID-19 may qualify for paid sick leave.
- Sick leave can be taken by contact persons, relatives, people who care for the patient and have systematic contact with him.
- In particular, a parent whose child is sick can take sick leave.
- Patients with chronic diseases who are at risk for developing complications
can take sick leave for the duration of the pandemic The list of such diseases has been approved by the Health Committee of the Russian Federation and allows an employee to take sick leave ( important! but only for the entire quarantine period - the period established by the region), having first registered with the clinic at the place of residence. - Citizens of the Russian Federation who have returned from epidemiologically disadvantaged countries and are forced to spend two weeks in self-isolation due to quarantine can take sick leave at work.
- citizens over 65 years of age are taking sick leave due to a special order from local authorities and the Chief Sanitary Doctor of the Russian Federation, since older people are at highest risk from coronavirus.
It is important to understand that monetary compensation for illness or in case of contact with a sick person will be less than wages. Therefore, if the coronavirus is mild, the employee can agree with the employer on remote employment.
Only the attending physician - a public or private clinic (if he has the appropriate license and the ability to conduct a medical examination) can send a patient on sick leave. The doctor will clarify the complaints and assess the patient’s health condition. Emergency doctors are not authorized to issue sick leave.
With coronavirus, symptoms such as elevated body temperature, general weakness and fatigue, loss of smell and other disturbances in the functioning of internal organs are observed.
If coronavirus provokes pneumonia, the patient, as a rule, begins to be bothered by symptoms of a respiratory disease: shortness of breath, cough, chest discomfort.
But visual examination, auscultation and pulse oximetry are not enough to make a diagnosis and issue a sick leave certificate. Coronavirus is considered confirmed based on the results of a laboratory PCR test. If the doctor suspects that the patient may have pneumonia caused by COVID-19, the patient is recommended to have a CT scan of the lungs. Pneumonia is a common complication of the new coronavirus infection. The patient will need more time to recover, and more intensive therapy will be prescribed.
To receive sick leave, patients with chronic diseases must register with the clinic. Elderly people over 65 years of age and people returning from abroad are forced to comply with the self-isolation regime, so they can apply for sick leave remotely through the State Services portal. This procedure was established by a special order of the Government of the Russian Federation, but it is not final and can be changed.
If you have been in contact with an infected person, you can take sick leave for quarantine or check with the head of the company about the possibility of working remotely for two weeks.
A sick leave certificate can be issued electronically or in writing. This data is entered into the Social Insurance Fund database, which is available to the employer after authorization in his personal account.
Each temporary disability certificate contains a code for payment of benefits, which will be different for patients with confirmed coronavirus (code 01) and a contact person forced to go into quarantine without obvious signs of illness (code 03).
Clinic work
On holidays, clinics and outpatient clinics usually do not receive patients as usual, but can provide assistance on duty. This means that there are one or more specialists who attend calls or receive appointments at the clinic. Usually the appointment lasts up to 14-18 hours, but it is worth checking the schedule by calling the reception desk of your particular clinic. On December 31 and January 1-2, clinics may not be open at all or may only be open for a few hours before lunch. On other days, the clinic may operate according to a duty schedule, which should be clarified in advance. You can go here with children who fell ill during the holidays (sick, caught a cold, or overate) and their condition does not require emergency medical intervention. You should also apply here for sick leave or its extension if the baby has not recovered earlier. Private clinics can operate; people contact them for acute illnesses or exacerbation of chronic pathologies of a child that do not require immediate hospitalization or emergency care.
But what should you do if a child dislocates an arm or breaks a leg on New Year’s Eve, gets a foreign object or scale from a firecracker in the eye, has a severe toothache or a knocked out tooth, has a fever, has been poisoned, or has another emergency situation? Where can I get emergency help at any time?
How many days does sick leave last for coronavirus?
Sick leave for coronavirus lasts as long as necessary for the patient’s body to completely defeat the virus and restore it.
For a patient with coronavirus confirmed by laboratory diagnostics, but without pneumonia, the first sick leave is issued, as a rule, for 14 days. All this time, the patient is treated according to the doctor’s recommendations and monitors the dynamics of therapy. After two weeks, the patient does a PCR test, and the doctor decides on the length of the sick leave.
It is important that the virus does not provoke the development of complications - pneumonia, vascular thrombosis, kidney failure. If there are severe signs of a respiratory disease: cough, shortness of breath, chest discomfort, lack of air, a CT scan of the lungs should be done.
The patient should remain on sick leave until a negative test result - PCR or immunoglobulin - comes back. However, it is important to understand that antibodies (responses to the virus) can remain in the blood for another 2-3 months, even when the patient is already healthy. Taking into account the rather high percentage of error, sometimes it is preferable to do not one, but two tests. After the first negative result, the attending physician can discharge the recovered patient or extend the sick leave, but under quarantine.
If coronavirus provokes pneumonia, then the disease is more severe and the sick leave will last longer. Before discharging the patient, the doctor must make sure not only that there is no viral or viral-bacterial infection, but also that there are no unresolved inflammatory foci in the lungs (infiltrates, “ground glass”, “cobblestone” symptoms).
It can take a month or more to treat viral pneumonia. At the same time, residual effects of coronavirus, such as cough, sore throat, difficulty breathing, may persist for another 1-2 months after pneumonia has already been defeated.
Elderly people over 65 years of age and patients at risk with chronic diseases or “in conditions requiring self-isolation” work remotely or are on sick leave until special orders from the government and the Chief Sanitary Doctor of the Russian Federation, that is, as long as there is a threat for their life and health.
Minimum period
The minimum period of sick leave is not established in regulations. Legislators left this issue in the competence of doctors, who alone determine the period of rehabilitation of a sick employee based on his well-being.
A doctor can issue a document for at least one day of illness, but this rarely happens. According to unofficial practice, doctors open a certificate of incapacity for work for at least three calendar days. It does not matter in what conditions the treatment takes place: in a hospital, day hospital or outpatient.
In any case, how long the sick leave will last depends on the severity of the disease and the doctor’s decision. In this case, the period for which the disability form is issued is limited to the maximum values established by the Order.
How is sick leave paid for coronavirus?
The procedure for payments for sick leave during coronavirus is no different from other situations, for example, from sick leave for ARVI or for caring for a sick child. The amount of payments is not affected by whether the patient suffers from viral pneumonia caused by COVID-19, or whether he is forced to quarantine due to contact with the patient, chronic diseases or old age.
The amount of payments is affected by:
- Seniority;
- The employee's actual earnings for the last two years;
- Established minimum wage level.
Receiving compensation
An employee can receive compensation for sick leave by submitting a sick leave certificate to the accounting department of his organization. The accountant will independently calculate the amount of compensation and add money to wages. An employee receives compensation on the day of salary payment, which was established in advance by the employer and recorded in the organization’s charter and the employment contract with the employee. For more information on how long sick leave is paid, read the article https://otdelkadrov.online/6951-ustanovlennye-zakonom-sroki-vyplaty-bolnichnogo-lista-v-year-godu.
If compensation was not paid on time, the employee may file a claim in court. Judicial practice on issues of non-payment of compensation and wages is well established today.
How to calculate how much money I am entitled to for sick leave due to coronavirus?
Step 1 - calculate the total income for the last two years. For example, 2021 - 360,000 rubles, 2021 - 420,000 rubles.
Step 2 - calculate the average earnings for 1 day, that is, divide the amount of earnings for 2 years by 731. In this case, it turns out:
(360,000 + 420,000) / 731 = 1,067 rubles.
Step 3 - we calculate the daily sick leave payment based on the current work experience:
a) Less than six months - the amount of daily payment corresponds to the minimum wage (currently - 404.33 rubles (if there are 30 days in a month) or 391.29 rubles (31 days).
b) Less than 5 years - 60% of the average daily earnings are due, in our example it is 640 rubles.
c) From 5 to 8 years - 80% of the average daily earnings, in our example it is 854.6 rubles.
d) More than 8 years - 100% of the average daily earnings, in this case it is 1067 rubles.
Each working day missed by the employee due to health reasons is paid. The maximum period of sick leave can be extended to 10 months by decision of the medical commission.
If the specifics of the job and the enterprise do not allow switching to a remote work format, the employer can arrange downtime for reasons beyond his control and, with the consent of the employee, provide him with annual paid leave or leave at his own expense.
The employer pays the employee himself for the first three days of sick leave. Next, the funds are accrued from the Social Insurance Fund, in favor of which tax was withheld from the employee’s wages. In accordance with the Federal Law “On the National Payment System” (161-FZ), funds from the Social Insurance Fund can only be credited to the MIR card.
Any type of injury
If, after skating, sledding or playing in the snow, a child falls or is injured in the form of a fracture, dislocation, sprain, or bruise, it is important to immediately provide him with emergency assistance. First of all, you can go to the nearest emergency room. These medical care institutions are located in all areas of cities and villages and operate around the clock, without holidays or weekends. However, this can be done if the issue concerns injuries to the extremities (arms or legs). If a child has an abdominal or back injury, open wounds, head injuries, especially with loss of consciousness, nausea or vomiting, it is important to immediately call an ambulance. The child may have serious injuries or damage to internal organs, concussions, and these require hospitalization and medical care in a hospital.
A visit to the emergency room is also necessary in the presence of cut wounds (if the child was cut by glass, ran into his hand or foot on sharp objects), for minor burns of the limbs or body (not the face!), for animal bites (dogs, cats). In addition to providing first aid, applying sutures and bandages, and treating wounds, at the emergency room, the child will also be vaccinated against rabies (if the baby has been bitten by animals) and given anti-tetanus serum (for contaminated wounds and bites, if he has not been vaccinated with DPT).
How to apply for sick leave during coronavirus?
Sick leave is issued in the usual manner. Depending on how they feel, the sick person consults a doctor (infectious disease specialist, therapist, pulmonologist) directly at a medical institution or calls an ambulance at home.
The certificate of incapacity for work is issued electronically (in some regions in writing). They have the same strength. Electronic sick leave for coronavirus will be stored in the all-Russian FSS database - accessible only to the employee, his employer and the attending physician in a medical institution connected to a single database.
During quarantine, you should adhere to self-isolation - a potential carrier of the new virus should not leave home, even to the clinic, as this may contribute to the spread of the infection.
If you live with a person who has been diagnosed with coronavirus, or have recently returned from an epidemiologically unfavorable country, you can apply for quarantine sick leave using the State Services website.
To do this you need:
1. Submit an application and fill out a form on the website.
2. Attach a photo of the passport page and documents confirming the fact of crossing the border or living together with the patient. A sample and a complete list of such documents is available on the State Services website.
3. Provide your electronic sick leave number to your employer.
Temporary disability benefits due to quarantine are paid in two parts: for the first 7 days missed and for the remaining period.
Results
Sick leave for days falling on weekends and holidays is paid as usual, since there are no grounds for excluding these days from the calculation period.
At the same time, if sick leave falls during a period for which it should not be paid, then weekends falling during this period will not be subject to payment. You can find more complete information on the topic in ConsultantPlus. Free trial access to the system for 2 days.
Coronavirus code on sick leave
The main thing you should pay attention to is that code 01 is assigned to sick leave for patients with confirmed coronavirus. Code 03 corresponds to a hospital patient who was forced to go into quarantine without the ability to continue working remotely. If, after 14 days of quarantine, the disease makes itself known, the patient will receive a certificate of temporary incapacity for work 01 from the doctor.
Patients with viral pneumonia should be prepared for the fact that it will take at best 1 month to fight the disease. The condition of the respiratory organ can be assessed on a control CT scan. It is important to exclude pneumonia, incomplete inflammatory processes in the lungs and complications of pneumonia, such as fibrosis. If there are signs of fibrotic changes on CT and characteristic symptoms, the patient should contact a pulmonologist and have a control CT scan done in a year.
Designations in the time sheet
Article 91 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation establishes the procedure for registering working time sheets during sick leave.
Weekends included in the sheet are indicated by the same codes in the timesheet as other days.
There are the following types of designation of the period of incapacity in the accounting sheet:
- B or 19. Fill out if the employer is aware of the fact that his employee is on sick leave.
- T or 20. Mandatory to fill out in case of caring for sick adult relatives of an employee.
- NN or 30. Filled out if the reason for the employee’s absence from the workplace is unclear. Next, you need to correct the information in this form.
Important! Resolution of the State Statistics Committee of the Russian Federation dated January 05, 2004 No. 1 “On approval of unified forms of primary accounting documentation for recording labor and its payment” establishes the rules for filling out the above forms.
It is the employee’s responsibility to immediately notify the employer of the opening of sick leave.
Calling an ambulance
Naturally, on holidays, the work of the ambulance is significantly complicated by the presence of a large number of calls, including false ones. Therefore, doctors may arrive on call with some delay. It is important to treat this with understanding. Naturally, doctors go to children first, especially young ones, and for serious reasons.
Reasons for contacting an ambulance, in addition to the situations already indicated above, may be:
- High temperature in young children, up to 2-3 years old, which is not interrupted by anything (above 39 degrees)
- Loss of consciousness, convulsions, disturbances of consciousness with severe agitation or sudden depression
- Persistent vomiting, diarrhea and fever, signs of dehydration, especially in young children
- Poisoning by mushrooms, chemicals, carbon monoxide, etc.
- Severe injuries, falls, bleeding
- Severe abdominal pain accompanied by fever, vomiting, severe tension in the abdominal muscles
- Rash on the body in the form of hemorrhages against the background of fever, disturbances of consciousness, headache
In addition, you can contact an ambulance for any other problems regarding the child’s health. Dispatchers will advise you and advise methods of solving the problem, and will also determine whether a medical team needs to be sent to you.
Postponement of vacation due to illness
Another option is to postpone the vacation to another date. Here you need to take into account that this option can be used only if an agreement has been reached with the employer on the timing of the transfer. This follows from the wording of Art. 124 Labor Code of the Russian Federation.
If management is against the transfer or does not agree with the period to which the employee wants to transfer part of the vacation, then the vacation is extended and not postponed. In this regard, it is better for the employee to discuss the possibility of a postponement and the timing with his manager in advance (for example, during a telephone conversation, when he calls to report the fact of his illness). And already on the first day of returning to work after vacation, write a transfer application.
Based on such a statement, you need to draw up an order to postpone the vacation. Since a separate order is issued to postpone the vacation, there is no need to make changes to the originally issued order to grant the vacation.
How can I transfer part of a vacation interrupted by illness in the program “1C:ZUP 8” edition 3?
Refusal to pay for a certificate of incapacity for work
There are completely legitimate reasons why an employer or Social Insurance Fund refuses to pay for the period when an employee was absent due to illness. These reasons include:
- Absence of the certificate of incapacity for work. It may not be issued because the sick person himself did not go to a medical facility or he feigned poor health.
- An employee's stay on vacation without monetary compensation.
- An employee’s child fell ill, but he himself is currently on annual leave. But if an employee has health problems during a legal vacation, it will be extended or postponed to another period.
- Removal from work duties without pay.
- Being in custody.
- Arrest due to an administrative offense.
- The period required to conduct a forensic medical examination of an employee.
- The onset of the illness coincided with the plant's downtime.
- The document is fake.
- The certificate revealed gross errors when filling it out. But it is the medical institution, not the employer, who must correct them.
- Disability was a consequence of the fact that a person intentionally caused harm to himself.
- The illness caused the employee to commit a deliberate crime.
If there are no such grounds, then doctors cannot refuse to issue a document, and the employer cannot refuse to pay benefits. A refusal can always be challenged in court, but to do this you must have a written response from the management or employees of the medical institution.
Accounting for leave postponed due to illness
In accounting, you need to reverse part of the vacation pay (we remind you that we are talking about a situation where an employee decides to transfer “extra” vacation days to the future). This must be done at the moment when the employee submits an application for transfer of leave along with sick leave and the organization will accrue sick leave based on the leave.
As for tax accounting, the amount of vacation pay, as is known, is included in labor costs (clause 7 of Article 255 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation). If vacation pay is subsequently recalculated downward, how can this be done in tax accounting? Through a decrease in previously recorded expenses or through the reflection of the recalculation amount (reimbursed by the employee) as part of non-operating income?
There are different opinions among experts. Unfortunately, there are no clear explanations from officials on this matter. There is only one old letter from the Ministry of Finance of Russia dated December 3, 2009 No. 03-03-05/224, in which officials in similar cases advise including compensation amounts in income.
Since there is no clarity on this issue, the company can choose any of the options and write it down in its accounting policies. Or contact your tax office and act based on the answer received.
