The new rulebook on sick leave allows employers in Republika Srpska (RS) to request an extraordinary assessment of temporary incapacity for work if they have any doubts about the justification of sick leave, the Health Insurance Fund (HIF) announced.
”Based on that request, the first-instance sick leave commission will call the insured and conduct an extraordinary assessment of temporary incapacity, and the outcome of this extraordinary assessment may be, as provided by the ordinance, either continued sick leave or return to work the next day if the re-analysis of the medical documentation and the examination of the insured person establishes that the worker is fit for work,” it is stated in the announcement from the HIF.
The ordinance also stipulates that the Fund’s employees be present at the first-instance commissions for the assessment of temporary incapacity for work with the aim of improving work in this area.
The Fund clarified that the goal of this novelty is to reduce all possible abuses of this right to a minimum.
”This ordinance defines that the insured does not leave the place of permanent residence during illness, except when he goes to the family doctor or when he is referred for diagnostic examinations and treatments outside the place of residence,” the statement reads.
In order to prevent sick leave from lasting longer than necessary, one of the novelties is that the family doctor does not have to wait 12 months to refer the insured person for an assessment of the working capacity of the RS Pension Fund, but that period is shortened to six months of continuous incapacity for work, except when it comes to maternity leave.
The goal of adopting the new ordinance is not only to improve control but also to simplify the procedure for approving sick leave for the most endangered categories.
”For example, pregnant women, immobile persons and insured persons with infectious diseases no longer have to come to the assessment of temporary incapacity for work in person every month, but someone else can do it on their behalf,” the statement reads.
E.Dz.
