In winter, many workers take their next paid vacation in order to relax with their families at home or in the resorts on cold winter days. However, in winter there is a great risk of getting sick and instead of a wonderful vacation lie at home with a temperature. How to be in this situation? Is it possible to extend sick leave? Should an employee take out sick leave if he is on vacation? In what cases the sick leave during the vacation period will not be paid? Consider this issue in more detail.
If, under the circumstances, during your next vacation you fell ill, do not worry, the law is on your side. The labor legislation of the Russian Federation, in particular article 124, guarantees you the extension of the leave due to temporary disability or the postponement of the leave, while you have the right to receive compensation for the period of illness. Do not forget that the only document that confirms the disease in this case is a certificate of disability, which must be properly executed and submitted to the employer for payment no later than 6 months after the employee recovers.
Worker's actions in case of illness on vacation
In case of illness on vacation, the employee is obliged to inform his employer that he is on sick leave in any way possible: by telephone, telegraph, post office, e-mail or other means. Also, in this notice, the employee is obliged to inform that he is more satisfied with it: extending the vacation in connection with the sick leave or transferring it to another period.
After recovery, the employee is obliged to hand over the sick leave to the company, which serves as confirmation that he was sick during the holidays , and the basis for documenting the extension of the leave. If the employee expects to extend the sick leave, then it is enough from him only to provide the bookkeeping department with a properly executed certificate of incapacity for work. In such a situation, an adjustment is made in the employee time sheet. In this case, it is not necessary to issue an additional order to extend the leave; the sick leave is a confirmation of such an extension. However, many personnel officers will require you to write a statement that you plan to extend the vacation, to be safe.
Features of the transfer of leave due to illness
If the employee does not want to extend the vacation, but considers it preferable to transfer it to another period, then in this case it is necessary to write a statement indicating the reason for the vacation being postponed, as well as the exact dates of the beginning and end of the vacation note. In this case, an order should be issued for the enterprise to transfer the leave on the basis of the sick leave and the employee's application.
If the employee decided to postpone the start date of the vacation note for a new term, then it should be noted that you need to use it within 12 months following the year for which it was provided. In addition, labor legislation prohibits the non-provision of paid regular leave for more than 24 months, as well as for persons under 18 years of age and employed at work with dangerous working conditions.
Cases when sick leave should not be paid on vacation
Despite all the privileges, a sick employee on vacation, a sick leave, does not always have to be paid. A sick leave during a vacation will not be paid if:
- the period of the disease coincides with the study leave;
- sick leave issued during maternity leave;
- sick leave issued for the period of vacation without pay (at their own expense);
- the reason for getting sick leave is a sick child or a sick family member;
- sick leave received during parental leave;
- the reason for receiving the certificate of incapacity for work was alcohol or drug intoxication of the employee;
- there is a note in the sick leave that the employee was not fully observed or the hospital regime was violated.
In cases where the sick leave issued to you falls into one of the above categories, you cannot count on compensation for the sick leave for this period. For example, an employee was on vacation without a salary from 08/25/2014 to 09/12/2014, on vacation he fell ill and received a sick leave from 09/10/2014 to 09/17/2014. Payment on sick leave from 10/10/2014 On September 12, 2014, he will not receive it, because for this period he had a vacation at his own expense, and the fund will be compensated for 5 days of disability. Moreover, in the time sheet, the entire vacation period without salary will be marked with the code DO, and starting from September 13 until the end of the sick leave will be marked B.
In all other cases, you can count on extending sick leave after you provide the employer with a sick leave. In this case, the next vacation will be extended for the number of days that you were on sick leave.
Despite the provisions of Article 124 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation, if an employee on vacation with his subsequent dismissal falls ill, the vacation in this case is not extended. This restriction is stipulated in the letter of Rostrud dated 24.12.2007 N 5277-6-1. In this case, compensation for the period of incapacity for work is accrued to the employee, but vacation for the same number of days is not extended.
Do I need to write a statement if you want to extend your vacation
Most labor law experts believe that an employee’s application is only necessary if the leave is transferred to another period, since only in this case the employer takes into account the employee’s wishes. And if the employee has not expressed his desire, then the extension of leave in connection with the sick leave occurs automatically, therefore his application is not necessary. At the same time, other experts are sure that the transfer or extension of sick leave is the choice of the employee himself, so there must be a written statement about which option he has chosen. Also, some of them believe that in the first option it is not necessary to draw up an order to extend the vacation, when other specialists in this matter are more categorical. In this matter, it is impossible to decide which of them is right and which is not, because there are no official explanations. It is for this reason that most enterprises require employees to write statements even if they extend the next leave due to illness, and also draw up orders, even if the employee decided to extend his next leave due to illness.
Registration of the application and order
Despite the fact that the Law does not provide an application for extending the vacation, as well as an order to extend it, most enterprises and organizations prefer to play it safe and draw up these documents. Since there is no special form for applying for the extension of the next vacation in connection with the certificate of incapacity for work, it must be drawn up in any form in the name of the director of the enterprise. In this application, the employee should indicate the period of the next vacation that was initially granted to him, the number of calendar days for which the vacation is extended, and also indicate the basis for writing this statement: a sick leave with an indication of the series, number and period of incapacity for work.
Further, on the basis of the employee’s application, as well as the issued sick leave, an order is drawn up to extend the leave, the reason for which was the sick leave. There is no obligatory form of this order, therefore it must also be drawn up in any form. In this order, it is obligatory to indicate the period of extension of the next paid vacation, legal grounds for the formation of the order: article of the Law, statement of the employee, series and number of sick leave. The employee must be familiar with this order under signature.
Cases of extension of the main vacation
An open sick leave during the next vacation is not the only reason for its extension. There are other cases of extending vacation:
- if the main vacation and training fall on the same period;
- in the performance of state duties;
- other cases stipulated by the legislation, as well as regulatory local acts.
If the employee went to his workplace, but did not provide a document confirming that he was actually on sick leave when he was on vacation, NN should be placed in the timesheet, instead of his last name - failure to appear for unknown reasons. It is recommended to change the NN mark to B (sick leave) and OT (leave) only when the employee provides a fully executed sick leave, and also writes an application to extend the next vacation due to illness.
Ways to extend your vacation
There are two main ways to extend the main vacation, if the employee fell ill during this period, depending on when the disease occurred:
- if the employee is ill before the start of the vacation note, he and the employer can determine the new period of the main vacation;
- if an employee falls ill during his next vacation, it is extended by the number of days for which the sick leave is issued, but the employee must inform the employer in advance.
In both the first and second cases, the employee can independently choose the period for extending the next vacation or transferring it, while the consent of the employer is not necessary.
Should the employer be warned of illness on vacation
Let us dwell in more detail on the duties of the employee in advance to warn the employer that he fell ill during the holidays. The labor legislation of the Russian Federation, in particular article 91 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation, states that an employee must fulfill all his duties in full only during working hours. However, the employee who is on vacation, as well as the employee who is on sick leave, are completely relieved of their labor duties under Art. 106 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation.
Thus, there is no legal reason for the employer to require the employee to immediately inform if he is going to present the sick leave on vacation, no, this can only be considered as a recommendation. Moreover, not in all situations, the employee may report the disease on the same day at his place of work (for example, when the employee is in serious condition). If possible, the employee should inform his employer about the illness, but if this was not done, the employer cannot bring him to disciplinary liability and consider his actions as a violation of labor duties.
Financial features of holiday renewal
In financial terms, the transfer and extension of leave in connection with sick leave have a number of differences. Each of the employees should know this before choosing what is more profitable for him. In the case of extension and transfer of vacation there will be a different amount of vacation pay. If an employee chooses an extension of vacation as an option, then the average daily salary for calculating vacation pay will be the same as when calculating vacation for the period of which the period of incapacity for work fell. In the case of the transfer of vacation, the average daily salary for calculating vacation pay can differ greatly, since a different calculation period will be taken for their calculation, which may change the amount of vacation pay.
According to the law, vacation pay is paid three full days before the start of the vacation, so there may be misunderstandings between the employer and the employee. If he wants to extend the vacation, then no problems will arise, but if the employee wants to postpone the vacation due to illness, and he has already received vacation pay, some questions may arise.
Please note that the employee should not return the amount of vacation pay already received. Holidays should not be deducted from the employee’s salary, even if the next vacation coincided with a period of disability - this is a direct violation of Article 137 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation. Withholding the amount of vacation is possible only when calculating the employee. If the employee is sick on vacation and has already received the vacation, the vacation is not withheld, but subsequently, when the employee takes off the transferred vacation, the vacation is not necessary to be paid.
Responsibilities of the personnel service of the enterprise
Before sending the employee on vacation, the HR officer conducts a conversation with the employee and warns him that it is necessary to notify the company in case of illness during his vacation. Also, personnel officers should inform the employee about the need to immediately determine which option is more suitable for him: extending leave for the period of sick leave or transferring it. For personnel officers, this plays a large role, because during the absence of an employee due to illness at the workplace, someone else fulfills his duties, it is necessary to agree in advance with the person on the extension of the combination of duties or to seek a new candidate.
An employee can submit to the accounting department for payment a fully executed sick leave, even if his vacation, in which he fell ill, is not yet completely over. The main thing is to first remove a photocopy from it, which should be attached to the application for extending the vacation.
No one is safe from illness during the next vacation, so you should know all the nuances so as not to conflict with the management of the enterprise. First, be sure to inform the personnel department about the disease; secondly, discuss whether you will extend the vacation or reschedule; thirdly, inform about the closing date of the sick leave; fourthly, provide a sick leave and write a statement if it is required of you. If you comply with all these rules, then avoid misunderstandings with the management of the company in which you work.