Slovenia leads Europe in health-related absenteeism
Slovenia is a European leader in terms of health-related absenteeism, facing escalating cost of sick pay.
To fight abuse, the government has put forward a bill to impose stricter controls of sick leave and stiffen sanctions, CE Report quotes The Slovenia Times.
The public insurance fund manager ZZZS, which covers pay for those on long sick leave, will continue to conduct oversight, but now this is being laid down in the law.
Under the bill, adopted by the Slovenian government, doctors issuing a sick note will be required to specify the person's activity regime while on sick leave and record it in their medical records. They will for example prescribe strict rest at home or give permission to go for walks, determining the time intervals during which the person may leave their home.
Employer to get access to some info
In an important change, the person's employer will have access to information about the prescribed mobility regime, but not to the medical data or diagnosis of their employee.
If the person violates the regime, they will be issued a warning, if they repeat the violation they will be stripped of the sick pay for 30 days.
Until now, patients on long-term sick leave could obtain approval from their GP to travel abroad. Under the new rules, only a ZZZS doctor will be able to grant such an approval, for example for treatment abroad.
A doctor interviewed by TV Slovenija said that they were seeing an increase in queries from employers and detectives in relation to sick leave, so changes made sense. He also approves of the change to rules on travel abroad, as there are now some unclarities.
Ban on gainful activity
The bill also specifies that no gainful activity may be performed during sick leave and steps up sanctions.
If an individual acted against instructions and for example performed gainful activity now, they would be stripped of their sick leave for that day, but the new legislation provides for them to be stripped of the sick pay for the month in which the violation occurred and the next month as well, Ana Vodičar of the ZZZS explained to TV Slovenija.
She noted though that even now, the person violating mobility regime could be dismissed from their job under the Employment Relationships Act.
The Health Ministry says that abuse has also been identified where individuals have registered as sole proprietors despite having health problems that prevent them from performing work, and then taken sick leave shortly after registering. Unlike regular employment, no medical examination is required when registering as a sole proprietor. The law makes it possible to strip the person of sick leave for such violations.
Provisions on lay supervisors
The ZZZS already has lay supervisors employed to check whether persons on sick leave abide by the rules. However, for the first time this lay supervision will be set down in law and the health fund manager will be able to hire more such supervisors.
Vodičar says lay supervisors do not have powers such as detectives for example. They are also not informed of the person's health condition in any way. They have five such supervisors now and will hire another one to cover all regions in the country. Last year they performed roughly 4,860 such controls, and will have even more this year.
Presenting the bill, Health Minister Valentina Prevolnik Rupel said their chief aim was to fight abuse, given that absenteeism is a significant and expensive problem.
Slovenia is the only EU country that does not have a cap on the duration of sick leave. More than 10,000 people have been on sick leave for over a year and more than 1,500 people for over three years. The expenditure for pay compensation during sick leave soared from below €400 million before the Covid pandemic to over €700 million this year.
Photo: Bor Slana/STA
