Photo: © IZVESTIA/Anna Selina
In Russia, the rules for issuing sick leave are changing. All changes will affect those who get sick too often. If more than four times in six months, then after that you will have to deal with a medical commission. As the Ministry of Health explains, everyone does this in order to notice in time a possibly hidden disease. Correspondent REN TV Ivan Litomin found out exactly what will change in September.
Elena and her son had just returned from sick leave. And again red eyes, slight malaise, snot. And so on in a circle. A situation familiar to many: kindergarten, a virus and endless trips to the doctors.
“This is one, two, three, four, well, five or six times in six months, it will be one hundred percent. Naturally, I’m very uncomfortable, I’m embarrassed,” – says Elena Leonova.
And now it will also be illegal! The Ministry of Health has published draft amendments to the order on sick leave. Starting from autumn 2025, their number will be limited. In six months, an employee will only be able to take four full-fledged sick days. All the rest – those that are above the norm – no more than three days.
“A separate calculation of sick leave will be carried out in relation to those certificates of incapacity for work that were taken to care for sick relatives, in this case, to care for children. And separately those certificates of incapacity for work that were issued to the employee for his recovery,” – said lawyer Ksenia Schwartz.
The changes are aimed rather at combating those who abuse sick leave. Alexey Petrenko is an actor, but for a long time he worked part-time as a housing and communal services engineer. Literally torn between the film set and the communal troubles of Muscovites.
“When you go to a shoot or somewhere, you have to excuse yourself. I had to take sick leave. Well, I could take two or three sick leaves a month,” – admitted actor Alexey Petrenko.
Opening a sick leave is not difficult now. If an employee has signs of illness, you can go to the clinic or call a doctor at home. Victoria Myasnikova, the owner of a chain of coffee shops in Voronezh, is forced to stand behind the bar and make coffee for people: her employee has once again gone on sick leave.
“I had one such employee who worked for me for a short time, and almost all of this time he was on sick leave for two or three months,” – she explained.
The employer has direct access to the employee’s sick leave record and can monitor how the illness progresses. At the same time, bosses currently have no opportunity to influence the duration of sick leave and their number. And doctors are always on the side of patients.
“The fact is that it takes five to seven days for a person to recover. Any doctor does not want to receive comments on keeping a medical history in the case of short sick leave. We are forced to give, because there is a legislative norm, there are rules for keeping a medical history,” – explained the therapist, candidate of medical sciences Andrei Kondrakhin.
The new rules, if approved, will come into force in September 2025. According to experts, this will help identify cases of chronic diseases and sick leave abuse among employees. But there is also a risk that this will increase the number of those who will suffer the disease “on their feet.”
Source: Ren
Henry Smith is a knowledgeable and experienced health journalist. He currently writes for 24 news breaker, where he provides readers with in-depth analysis and expert insights on a wide range of health-related topics. With a focus on evidence-based reporting and a passion for making complex health information accessible to a general audience, Henry’s work is highly respected in the industry.