The issue of suspicious sick leave was raised again, but the union says that such cases are not that frequent. However, it happens that someone who is not actually sick takes a medical leave. The reasons are much deeper than "a break from work"
The story of "suspicious sick leave" this time it came from ministers and businessmen. From Employers' Union Serbia stated in an interview with FoNet that they receive information from many members that such occurrences are possible.
The trade unions indicate that Serbia is among the countries in Europe where workers least used sick leave.
Budimčević: Both the company and the workers suffer
The representative of the Union of Employers, Svetlana Budimčević, said that at meetings and in informal conversations, employers point out the problem of suspicious sick leave and that it does not apply only to large companies, but also to small ones.
According to her, not only the company suffers, but also the other workers in it, as well as the health system, which is based on solidarity, but also that it is always a matter of individuals.
As she stated, they do not have exact data in numbers, but employers have an obligation to keep records of employees, according to which it can be seen whether any of them is absent more often and in which periods during the year.
The check is more difficult to carry out because the Republic Health Insurance Fund only has data for employees to whom it pays compensation. These are employees who spend more than 30 days on sick leave.
Unions: No epidemic of fake sick leave
On the other hand, the trade unions say that in Serbia sick leave is used the least in Europe.
The president of the Association of Independent Trade Unions of Belgrade, Dragan Todorović, believes that these are stereotypes from 20 to 30 years ago and that there is no "fake sick leave epidemic".
The representative of the Trade Union Nezavisnost Zoran Ristić pointed out that Serbia is among the five European countries that use sick leave the least, along with Romania, Bulgaria, Greece and Poland.
Sick leave when the employer does not meet
Ristić did not deny that abuses exist, but he pointed out that they are not to the extent that it is presented, while Todorović said that perhaps the real question for companies that complain about a large number of people going on sick leave is "what is their attitude towards those people".
"Do they perceive them only as a number, a statistic and someone who should bring them profit, or do they really see in them people who have private lives and problems and who need to meet them for some things that they can, so that they can repay them with work, productivity," said Todorovic.
Ristić pointed out that it is also necessary to see why workers eventually open such sick leaves, and he believes that the cause is largely the salary, which is not sufficient for the employee's existence, but also the attitude of the employer towards the employees, because there is a lot of mobbing that is not recorded.
Employers used to hire detectives as well
Last year "Vreme" wrote about the case of hiring a detective to monitor workers.
Nikola Novak from a detective agency then spoke on RTS about how in recent years there have been more and more cases in which employees go on sick leave "because they can."
At that time, it was stated that around 40.000 workers open "false sick leave" and most often to work in other, better-paid places, or to take a break, without explaining the origin of such data.
Later during the show, it was claimed that almost 40 percent of Serbian workers are ready to fake sick leave.
"According to some research, about 40 percent of sick leave is fake sick leave. And then employers come forward with the desire to investigate it. There was a company from Vojvodina that has about 300 employees and they constantly have about 30 of them on sick leave, that is, 10 percent. These come back, some leave. It also happened that people took sick leave and went out to the club, went skiing or worked at other jobs," Novak said at the time on RTS.
During his presentation, the detective expressed concern for employers who suffer because of such bragging and are forced to hire detectives. When the company hires them, detectives follow the workers to their homes, and then observe whether, during the sick leave, they leave the house, where they go, how often...
Serbs work harder than others
"When I hear data like this, I can't help but feel anger. Such estimates are made in a country where workers work the longest hours in Europe. The average Serbian worker works about 41 hours a week, while in other countries the average is about 37.5 hours," Ranka Savić from the Association of Independent and Free Trade Unions told Vreme at the time.
And she then added that more trust should be placed in Eurostat research data, which show that Serbia is among the five leading countries in Europe in terms of the number of sick days, and that about five percent of workers go on sick leave, while in other European countries that percentage is much higher.
"This does not mean that we are a healthy nation, but that our workers go to work when they are sick, because they are afraid of the reaction of their superiors and the potential consequences. Moreover, our workers are among the lowest paid in Europe, and the Labor Law is otherwise very generous for employers and almost always on their side, but bad and very restrictive when it comes to workers," she pointed out.
Monitoring workers - what does the law say?
"According to the Labor Law, the employer really has the possibility to check employees on sick leave. However, it is known who is doing it. In case of suspicion that it is a case of fake sick leave, the competent doctor should be contacted first. A first-instance commission is formed to make a decision," Ranka Savić explained at the time.
In cases where the employer is not satisfied with the decision of the first-instance commission, a second-instance commission can be formed, namely at the Republic Health Insurance Fund. Hiring private detectives should not apply.
"Interference by detectives is illegal because it intrudes into the private affairs of workers without their approval. In addition to the Labor Law, this violates the Patient Protection Act as well as the Personal Protection Act. When an employer receives information from a detective, the question is what can be done with it, because no judicial authority would accept that information because of the way it was obtained," Savić pointed out.
What can a detective see?
After all, how much can private detectives learn about a worker's health from observing him/her?
It must be taken into account that absence from work is not only due to serious physical illnesses.
It is possible, and completely acceptable, to go on sick leave due to mental health problems, as well as minor illnesses that affect our ability to work.
"It happens that employees go on sick leave because of spine problems. Then the competent doctor advises them to move, to walk for an hour or two a day. What can a detective conclude when he sees an employee on sick leave walking?" Savić concluded for "Vreme" at the time.
And the united unions of Serbia "Sloga" in an official statement expressed concern about the practice of hiring private detectives to control sick leave of employees and called on workers to file criminal charges against employers who carry it out. They also pointed to false information presented by the detective, which is being "manipulated".
Employee check today
Health Minister Zlatibor Lončar proposed that until the establishment of the e-sickness system, employers submit lists of sick days they suspect to the Ministry of Economy, which then sends them to the Ministry of Health, and the latter to the directors of health centers in order to verify these absences.
He cited examples of two commissions in state-owned enterprises that check whether an employee is at home or in a health facility during sick leave.
Lawyer Milica Mančić Kaćurić emphasized that the two commissions are not authorized to enter the apartment without the employee's consent, while regarding the proposal to submit the lists to the Ministry of Economy, she pointed out that the ministry is not authorized to collect or process the data of employees and thus opens the possibility for abuse.
In June, the Serbian Chamber of Commerce stated in a statement on the misuse of sick leave that it sees the solution in more effective sick leave checking and in shortening the period during which the employer is obliged to pay sick leave compensation.
Lawyer Mančić Kaćurić pointed out that the employee in the first 30 days of sick leave - when it is not caused by an injury at work, receives 65 percent of the salary and that then it falls on the employer, and then it goes to the Fund, but the amount is the same for the employee.
Todorović from the Association of Independent Trade Unions thinks that the whole story is driven by that idea, because the unions do not have a defined position on whether sick leave should be paid for by the employer or the state.
He points out that it must be paid in any case, considering that the state makes concessions to employers. Ristić assesses that it is about protecting the interests of the members of the Serbian Chamber of Commerce, that is, about relieving employers of costs.
Source: FoNet, Vreme, N1
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