Individuals returning from hospital treatment will also have to adhere to the deadlines for notification of sick leave. The photo is illustrative. Photo: Matjaž Rušt
The latest changes in sick leave: what should be adhered to?
With many sick leaves, it will now be necessary to see a personal doctor. Patients will also have to pay attention to deadlines when informing about absence.
Examinations during sick leave are now mandatory. They are planned for the fourth day of absence at the latest, if the individual has not returned to work by then. In primary health care, they will also be performed during long sick leave. The examination is therefore foreseen immediately before the first proposal to the appointed doctor, who decides on the continuation of the patient stock.
It is also mandatory when the individual was temporarily absent with interruptions more than twice in the last three months before the current sick leave and the individual absence did not exceed 30 days. Doctors will also be able to decide on examinations in all other cases, if they deem them necessary.
What are the exceptions to when to notify your doctor?
The changes to the mandatory health insurance rules that came into effect today also provide for exceptions. The personal physician will be able to determine the need for absence only on the basis of medical documentation, i.e. without examining the patient, during hospital treatment. In this way, it will be possible to manage the absence even in the case of a medical condition, due to which, according to the doctor’s opinion, the patient cannot go to the examination. Such a case can be, for example, the condition after a major surgical treatment or when the limb is immobilized with a cast or longe. Even when cancer is treated with radiotherapy or chemotherapy, examinations due to sick leave will not be necessary, as can be seen from the amended rules. An exception is also the circumstances when the examination is not performed due to the risk of infection with an infectious disease; the doctor also weighs in on this.
Residents on sick leave will also have to pay attention to timely notification. The individual must inform the personal physician of the reason why he stayed at home. This must be done on the same day or, at the latest, on the first following working day of the personal doctor’s clinic. Exceptions are hospital and inpatient spa treatment. The patient can report the reason for the absence after the completion of such treatment, but no later than the first following working day of the personal physician’s clinic. “In this case, the personal physician can establish a temporary absence from work even retroactively, from the day the hospital or inpatient spa treatment began,” the rules provide. The changes will be presented in more detail today at the Institute for Health Insurance of Slovenia (ZZZS).
Let us remind you that since the end of last year, several changes have already taken place regarding sick leave. It began with the mandatory writing down of instructions on how to act during such an absence. This was followed by legislative changes, due to which an individual may remain without compensation until the end of the absence, but not longer than 30 days, upon the second violation of the doctor’s instructions within five years. As we reported, the number of inspections is increasing, and unified movement regimes during sick leave have also been introduced. Can an individual go to the grocery store while resting, the doctor weighs.
More costs for the health fund, less for employers?
The coalition agreement, which will be governed by the fourth government of Janez Janša, announces a set of measures to reduce absenteeism. It is not clear what kind of measures are involved. It is more tangible in the case of relieving employers. The Health Insurance Institute of Slovenia will take over the payment of benefits for sick leave on the 20th working day, she predicted. How the future authorities will patch the hole that such a move will dig in the health fund is not clear from the coalition agreement.
Let us remind you that the period for the payment of sickness benefit to the burden of the employer was shortened from 30 to 20 days already in 2022. A shorter period, when the benefit is covered by employers, was proposed by the opposition party SAB at the time, and it was also supported by the parties of the coalition at the time. It was the period of the third government of Janez Janša. At the time, ZZZS warned of deepening problems in health financing, while trade unions warned of relieving the responsibility of employers for the health of their employees. The regulation was changed again in 2024, i.e. during the mandate of Golob’s government. Employers were critical of this move, pointing out additional costs for the economy.
