How to apply for sick leave to care for a relative

Federal Law No. 255-FZ of December 29, 2006 provides for the possibility of issuing a certificate of incapacity for work to care for a sick relative. The list of family members is not established by law, and therefore the main condition for issuing a certificate of incapacity for work (in common parlance, sick leave) is the actual provision of care for the patient and the existence of such a need .

The periods for which sick leave to care for a relative can be paid vary:

These restrictions are established only for the payment of sick leave; time spent on sick leave beyond the established period will not be paid, but will still be considered a legal basis for absence from work and cannot become a reason for dismissal.

If, while caring for a sick child, a second one falls ill, then he is included in the already opened sick leave and it is extended until all the children have recovered.

If long-term care for a disabled adult is required, the state provides for the possibility of obtaining a care allowance. It is issued by the Pension Fund and amounts to about 1,200 rubles per month. Sick leave for such care will be issued in accordance with the general procedure and paid within 30 days per year.

In practice, it happens that the issuance of sick leave for caring for a disabled person in a hospital is refused due to the absence of complications, since disability is his permanent condition .

It is difficult to argue with this, because according to the law, the disability of an adult relative in itself is really not the basis for registering the disability of the relative caring for him.

Due to the short possible duration of paid sick leave and benefits for persons with a fairly high level of income, the solution may be to hire a professional nurse or perform work duties at home, if possible.

The procedure for granting sick leave to care for a sick relative

The social insurance system in the Russian Federation guarantees that an employee will retain his average earnings in the event of his own illness or the incapacity of his family members.
If an employee’s relative falls ill and the employee is forced to care for him, the medical institution issues a certificate of incapacity for work, which can be brought to work and received temporary disability benefits during absence from the workplace. The employer is not obliged to find out who the employee’s sick relative is (Part 5, Article 13 of Law No. 255-FZ of December 29, 2006). To indicate a family relationship on a sick leave for caring for a sick relative, there is a special field where the doctor enters one of the following codes:

38 - mother,

39 - father,

40 - guardian,

41 - trustee,

42 - another relative (clause 65 of the Procedure for issuing certificates of incapacity for work, order of the Ministry of Health dated September 1, 2020 No. 925n).

The legislation establishes a ban on paying sick leave to care for a sick relative in the following cases:

• if a chronic patient is in remission;
• if the employee is on maternity leave or to care for a child under three years old and does not work part-time. If an employee works from home or for several hours a day, then she is paid sick leave according to the general rules;
• if the employee was on study leave or leave at his own expense;
• if health problems with an employee’s family member arose during downtime.

Should I pay for sick leave to care for a sick child if the employee works remotely and can work despite the child’s illness? The answer to this question is in ConsultantPlus. If you don't already have access to the system, get a free trial online.

If a relative falls ill during an employee’s vacation, the vacation is not extended by the number of days of illness, except in cases where the extension is provided for by a local act of the employer. The benefit is paid for the period of sick leave that coincides with the days of vacation, but is not paid. Only days of illness of a relative falling on the days after the vacation are subject to payment (Article 124 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation, letter of the Ministry of Labor of Russia dated October 26, 2018 No. 14-2 / ​​OOG-8536).

For more information about calculating disability benefits during vacation, read the article “How to extend vacation for sick leave during vacation.”

IMPORTANT! The benefit calculated for a full calendar month, calculated for periods of incapacity for work from 04/01/2020, cannot be lower than the minimum wage. For details, see the material “How to calculate sick leave under the new law.”

The doctor will issue sick leave to care for sick parents or other relatives for the entire period of their illness, but there is a limit on the number of days that must be paid.

When sick leave will not be issued and paid

Sick leave is not issued if:

• a relative has a chronic illness;
• lack of supervision will not lead to deterioration of health or death of a relative;
• a relative intending to care for the patient is on vacation;
• the sick person is undergoing hospital treatment;
• there are other relatives who can care for the sick person.

Sick leave will not be paid if:

• the disease was falsified;
• corrections or errors were made when filling out the sick leave;
• the institution does not have a license to provide medical services;
• the person is in custody or under arrest.

If a note about violation of the regime is made on the sick leave, such days will be paid based on the minimum wage.

The nuances of paying sick leave for child care

But providing sick leave for childcare has many nuances. First of all, the limit of paid days depends on the age of the child and his illness.

Important! Children are recognized as children of an employee (including non-relatives - stepsons and stepdaughters, as well as wards and adopted children), grandchildren, minor brothers and sisters.

If the child is under 7 years old, then the entire duration of illness is paid, but not more than 60 calendar days per year (90 days for some diseases).

To care for a child over 7 years old but under 15, 45 calendar days per year are given. Social insurance will not pay the employee for the following days. Each sick leave can be no more than 15 calendar days, unless the medical commission recognizes the need to treat the child longer.

For a child over 15 years of age, the following rules apply: 7 calendar days of illness are paid; the annual limit on paid days of incapacity is 30 calendar days.

Attention! Limits for sick days for children are calculated based on age at the time of illness.

For some diseases from the list of orders of the Ministry of Health and Social Development of the Russian Federation dated February 20, 2008 No. 84n, the number of paid days increases. Such diseases include malignant tumors, severe developmental disorders and diseases of the nervous system, asthma, tuberculosis, meningitis, serious limb injuries, burns and some other diseases. In such cases, sick leave for caring for a patient can be paid for all days of illness.

Attention! Care for disabled children until adulthood is paid in full for the entire period of illness, but not more than 120 days a year (Clause 5, Article 6 of Law No. 255-FZ of December 29, 2006).

What other payments are due to disabled people, read the material “Compensation payments under the social security system.”

To account for the number of paid days of incapacity for work of a relative, the company counts only those days when the patient was cared for by an employee of the company. That is, a child could be sick 90 days a year, of which 20 days he was cared for by his mother, a company employee, another 20 days by his father, who works in another organization, and the remaining 50 days by his retired grandmother. You take into account only 20 days of mother's sick leave.

You can also take care of a child during the mother’s leave to care for him - she herself does not have the right to receive payment for a certificate of incapacity for work, but the father caring for the child or any other relative can claim payment for sick leave.

The first 10 days of illness of a child (regardless of his age) during treatment at home are paid taking into account the insurance experience of the caring worker. Starting from the 11th day you need to pay 50% of average earnings. If a child is being treated in a hospital, then payment for all days is based on the insurance period (Part 3, Article 7 of Law No. 255-FZ).

If an employee has two children sick at the same time, one paper BC is issued to care for them. If there are more sick children, a second paper sick leave is issued. When two or more children fall ill, one electronic sick leave is generated at the same time. If the second (third) child falls ill during the illness of the first child, the BC previously issued for the first child is extended until all children recover without counting the days that coincided with the days of release from work to care for the first child (clauses 44, 45 of the Procedure for issuing certificates of incapacity for work, approved by order of the Ministry of Finance dated September 1, 2020 No. 925n).

If you want to check whether you have correctly calculated the allowance for caring for a sick child, use the advice of ConsultantPlus experts. Go to the Ready Solution with a free trial access to the legal system.

Can I open a newsletter for two or more people at the same time?

You can open a document for several people. Two children fit into one, and on subsequent occasions another one is registered. If, during the recovery of one minor, another falls ill, then his data will simply be entered on the current sheet, which will be extended for the required period.

The previous period is not counted towards the total, that is, extension is possible for a standard period.

On a note! If two people provide alternate care, according to the law, then the sheet can be issued for both, taking into account all time frames.

Is it possible for a grandmother to take sick leave to care for her grandson?

If a child becomes ill, in some circumstances there is no choice but to provide care with the help of the grandmother. This is allowed by law, and a grandmother should be provided with sick leave to care for her grandson if she works.

Sometimes employers require proof that they live at the same address. However, such a request is unlawful, since it is not legally defined and can be ignored.

Payment of sick leave to the grandmother is made in the usual manner on the basis of the norms contained in paragraph 5 of Art. 6 Federal Law dated December 29, 2006 No. 255-FZ.

How is such a disability document closed?

The issuance procedure is regulated quite strictly, and any violation may lead to the employer marking the employee’s absence as absenteeism. To close the sick leave, it is necessary to appear for the last examination by the attending physician for the patient and the employee who was issued a certificate of incapacity for work.

Sick leave may be closed if:

1. The patient is recovering.
2. The maximum period for issuing sick leave for a specific employee has been exceeded. In this case, a new one starts and the old one closes.
3. Sometimes the employee himself can ask for the closure of sick leave. The doctor has the right to refuse, based on his own decision regarding the patient’s health.

The closing date of the sick leave must correspond to the date when the doctor signing the sick leave was at work , otherwise the document may subsequently be declared invalid.

A sick leave certificate is the only basis for the employer to enter information in the time sheet about a valid reason for the employee’s absence.

How to apply for sick leave to care for a disabled person

When issuing and paying sick leave certificates to employees who need to care for a disabled person, the following rules apply:

• To care for a disabled child under 18 years of age (from 04/10/2018), sick leave can be issued for the full period of treatment, however, no more than 120 days in total per calendar year are subject to payment from the Social Insurance Fund. This period may include different types of treatment (outpatient and inpatient) and various types of diseases. Sick leave is paid according to the following scheme:
• for inpatient treatment, the average monthly salary is paid;
• for outpatients - 100% payment for the first 10 days of illness, 50% payment for all subsequent days.
• Caring for disabled adults is accompanied by sick leave issued for the same periods as sick leave for caring for a parent or caring for sick relatives - 7 calendar days for each disease. You cannot be on sick leave for more than 30 calendar days per year.

Reasons for refusal to issue a certificate of incapacity for work

There are many reasons for refusing to issue sick leave. Reasons for refusal can be divided into 2 groups :

1. reasons related to the patient himself;
2. reasons related to the patient’s relative.

Reasons related to the patient in whose favor the sick leave is issued:

• The disease is not serious and does not promise temporary loss of ability to work. In other words, a person simply does not need treatment and, accordingly, care from a relative.
• The disease does not require constant care.
• The patient has the opportunity to use the services of a hospital or sanatorium. If it is possible to interact with medical professionals, then preference is given to them rather than to a simple relative.
• The patient suffers from a chronic illness. If the disease is chronic, then a person needs the care of a relative only during exacerbations. If there is no exacerbation, there will be no sick leave.
• The patient is under administrative arrest or custody.
• The person is not actually sick, but simply needs a medical examination for various reasons (military registration and enlistment office, prevention, etc.). If a person wants to help a relative get examined, he will have to do it outside of working hours, because sick leave is not issued in such situations.

The reasons associated with the relative of the patient are as follows::

1. He is not the only relative of the patient. There are other relatives who are able to take care of the sick person and who are in a more convenient situation (for example, not working).
2. The boss did not sign the statement. If the application is not signed, then it will be impossible to obtain a certificate of incapacity for work.

Important! If a person is denied sick leave, then he can simply go on vacation at his own expense. Many people do this. But still, with a serious illness, the risk of getting rejected is quite small.

Results

Many companies are afraid to hire women with children because they believe that the cost of paying average wages during sick leave will fall on the employer - this is not the case. Payment for certificates of incapacity for work is reimbursed by the Social Insurance Fund. The state regularly reviews the rules for paying sick leave and expands the list of diseases for which days of incapacity for work are paid in full. In order not to miss important changes in the rules of social insurance for employees, read our “Salaries and Personnel” section.

Sources:

• Labor Code of the Russian Federation
• Law “On compulsory social insurance in case of temporary disability and in connection with maternity” dated December 29, 2006 N 255-FZ

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