If an employee of the company went on sick leave, then a regular question arises before the accounting department, how it will be necessary to pay for it. Of course, for experienced professionals who monitor all changes in the law, this is not a problem. But for young accountants, it is important to find out all the nuances in order to know what to look for when a sick leave is drawn up. How compensation is calculated for the period of incapacity for work is also necessary to find out in advance.
Who is eligible for sick leave?
Each officially employed employee has the right to social guarantees in case of temporary disability. This is promised in article 39 of the Constitution of Russia. The Social Insurance Fund is engaged in financial compensation for sick leave. Moreover, it is this organization that verifies the correctness of the accrual of aid amounts, monitors the implementation of legislative acts by organizations and works in the interests of the final recipients of social guarantees.
In order to receive the statutory benefit, the employee must provide the employer with a sick leave. This document confirms the fact of the disease. All necessary accruals and calculations are carried out by the accounting department of the employer, and the fund only deals with the payment of the declared amounts and their verification. By the way, each organization in which hired employees work is mandatory registered as an insured.
Disability Filling Rules
In order for the FSS to pay for sick leave, it should not contain any errors. Clinic staff are involved in filling out these documents, but it is advisable that the sick person independently verify the correctness of the data in the disability sheet issued to him. If errors are found, he will be provided with a duplicate, because corrections and corrections in this document are unacceptable. The accountant involved in accruing payments to employees should also verify the correctness of the filling.
The most common are errors in the name of the patient, his date of birth. Also, paramedics often make mistakes when filling in the start and end numbers of the sick-list. If the patient has 2 sheets of disability or more that go in a row, then only one number can coincide in them. For example, in one clinic, a person closed a sick-list, and in another, on the same day, he opened it. In certain cases, the position of the doctor is important. A sick leave issued in connection with pregnancy and childbirth is issued only by an obstetrician-gynecologist. If another position is indicated in this document, it must be replaced.
But inaccuracies in the name of the organization should not cause concern. The FSS determines the policyholder based on its individual number, which is indicated by the enterprise itself.
Who pays sick leave
A couple of years ago, all sick leave was paid directly by the employer. Only after that he reported on the spent funds to the Social Insurance Fund, which offset its costs. At the same time, he did not return the funds to the company or the individual employer, but counted them against future contributions to the Social Insurance Fund.
This order has now been changed. The employer no longer pays for the disability certificate submitted; he is only obligated to make all the necessary calculations. And the FSS is already engaged in transferring the funds allocated to the employee.
Calculation of average earnings
It must be remembered that from January 1, 2012, the procedure for determining this amount has changed significantly. So, at present, the base calculation period is not 12, but 24 calendar months, or 730 days. After the company employee recovers, he must bring the sick leave. How the payment is due to him, the employee does not need to know. From this moment, the work of accounting begins. First of all, in order to determine how much social benefits an employee is entitled to, it is necessary to calculate his average daily earnings.
The calculation of the average for the sick leave is determined as follows. All accrued employee income over the past two years is divided into 730 days. In this case, the amount includes absolutely all payments, bonuses, remuneration for which contributions to the FSS were accrued.
How are sick leave amounts determined?
In addition to the fact that accounting should correctly determine the average daily earnings of an employee, she must also remember what percentage of the established amount is supposed to be paid on disability sheets. The amount of social guarantees depends directly on the length of service of the employee.
For persons with insurance experience:
- did not exceed 5 years, 60% of the income received is paid;
- makes up from 5 to 8 years - 80%;
- over 8 years - 100%.
It is important to remember that it is not continuous, but the total time of the employee’s work at all places of employment where deductions were made to the Social Insurance Fund.
Calculation for previously unemployed persons
One of the most common problems that accountants face is calculating benefits for employees who have been with the organization for less than two years. In order to accrue the due compensation for disability, the bookkeeping department will need a certificate from the last place of work for two calendar years. If an employee does not provide it, then the calculation is based on the minimum wage for the period when he was not registered with the employment service. You should also be aware that
unemployment benefits are not taken into account when determining the amount of average daily earnings.
The amount of disability compensation is determined on the basis of the minimum wage, subject to one of the following conditions:
- the employee has no insurance premiums for the last 24 months;
- employee insurance less than 6 months;
- monthly earnings less than the minimum minimum wage.
Payout Changes
When receiving a sick leave from an employee, the accounting department should not only know how to correctly carry out all the calculations of the social compensation due for payment, but also remember that their monthly amount cannot exceed the established limit. In 2013, the maximum size was 58 970, in 2014 - 61 920, in 2015 it will be 65 020 rubles.
It is clear that the levels of these payments can affect only the most highly paid employees, who already have a sufficiently long insurance experience. Most companies in which the average wage is set, these maximum contributions will not affect.
Also, the changes will affect the following categories of employees:
- who was injured at the workplace due to his own fault, violated labor discipline, was intoxicated (it doesn’t matter if it was drug or alcohol);
- who did not pass a medical examination in a timely manner without a good reason;
- who did not comply with the established hospital regime.
In this case, the accountant must know how correctly such sick leave is calculated as it is charged. Indeed, for established cases, the calculation is based on the minimum wage.
Features of the calculation
Starting from 2013, the basis for calculating the due payments are the last two calendar years. In most cases, the period that precedes the insured event is taken. However, there are situations when the employee has the right to choose the period, which will be the basis for the calculations. So, such an opportunity is provided to those who in one or both of the last years were on vacation, which was provided in connection with pregnancy and childbirth or to care for the baby.
If the employee has one of the described cases, then do not be afraid to take a sick leave. How the amount of insurance compensation is calculated in this case, any accountant must know. As the period can be selected:
- 30 calendar days;
- 731 or 732 calendar days if the employee has chosen one or two leap years as the basis for the calculation.
True, such a replacement is possible only at the request of the employee and subject to the condition that this will lead to an increase in compensation payments.
Calculation of benefits for pregnancy and childbirth
If the sick leave is provided by the expectant mother, the employer calculates the amount of insurance payments due to her. As in other situations, the basis for this is two calendar years. In this case, the person involved in the accruals should take into account what was the limiting base of accrual of insurance premiums in each of the periods.
The calculation and procedure for paying the specified benefits have their own characteristics. When determining the amount of average daily earnings, the total amount of income received is divided into 730 calendar days. And when calculating the size of the benefit paid in connection with the upcoming birth, the following are removed from the period:
- days of temporary disability;
- the time at which the employee was relieved of labor with the preservation of her salary, if insurance premiums were not accrued on her at the indicated time;
- maternity or childcare leave.
If a woman has voluntarily entered into the compulsory social insurance program, then in this case the average daily earnings are determined on the basis of the minimum wage established on the day of the insured event. It is simply divided by the number of days in each month that the sick leave falls on.
Work injuries
If an employee was injured at the workplace, then in this case there will be their own particularities for calculating the required insurance payments. So, if the injury did not occur due to violation of labor discipline by the employee himself, then the allowance will be paid in the amount of 100% of earnings.
However, it is important to take into account all the provisions of Law No. 36-FZ adopted on April 05, 2013. It was this document that established the maximum sizes of possible insurance payments in case of temporary disability of an employee that occurred in connection with an accident that occurred at the enterprise. For a full calendar month, they cannot exceed four times the maximum monthly compensation payment.
For example, in 2014, an employee who is injured may be paid no more than 247,680 rubles (61,920 x 4 months).