Direct payments: the State Duma approved a bill on a new procedure for calculating sick leave and benefits

The State Duma adopted in the first reading a bill providing for a widespread transition to a new procedure for paying sick leave and the payment of a number of benefits.

According to the document, funds will be credited directly from the Social Insurance Fund (FSS), and not through the employer.

The new procedure applies to sick leave, as well as benefits for pregnancy and childbirth, a lump-sum allowance for women who got registered in the early stages of pregnancy, a one-time allowance for the birth of a child, and a monthly childcare allowance.

The new mechanism for the appointment and payment of insurance coverage is expected to come into effect on January 1, 2022.

The website of the lower house of parliament notes that from January 1, 2021, the new procedure has already been introduced by a government decree, now it is supposed to be fixed by the norms of federal law.

The current system implies that the employer pays the employee benefit himself, and social funds reduce the amount of mandatory contributions from the company by the amount paid to the employee.

However, starting in 2011, the above-described direct payment scheme was introduced in various regions of the country as part of a pilot project. 

By mid-2020, the project was already operating in more than 70 regions of the country.

The explanatory note to the bill approved by the State Duma says that during the work the project has shown its efficiency.

"The main goal of the pilot project, which is to ensure the guaranteed receipt of insurance payments by the insured person, the correct calculation of their size and payment in the shortest possible time, has been achieved, which generally contributes to the achievement of a higher level and quality of service to citizens," the authors of the document noted.

The explanatory note also states that the new system implies "minimal participation of the insured in the process of appointing and paying insurance coverage", since all necessary operations will be carried out "taking into account the electronic exchange of information with insurers, medical organizations, bodies of state extra-budgetary funds, medical and social expertise and other departments ".

In addition, the authors of the document proposed to assign and pay benefits in accordance with the parameters of the pilot project during the transition period, which should last from January 1 to December 31, 2021.

Commenting on the decision of the State Duma, the head of the Committee on Labor, Social Policy and Veterans Affairs Yaroslav Nilov also noted that the new order has been in effect from January 1, 2021.

“Today the draft law was considered in the first reading, but it was already partially implemented last year.

That is, from January 1, direct payments from the FSS have been made, ”he said in an interview with RT.

Nilov noted that the previous system, when employers themselves had to pay insurance coverage to employees, had serious shortcomings.

First of all, they concerned companies in difficult financial situations.

“Problems arose when there was no working capital, and we had to contact our committee manually on a regular basis.

And now there will be direct payments from the FSS, the fund is the insured, ”said the deputy.

According to him, in the near future the system of payments to employees through the FSS will be systematized, the fund will only need an account number and a supporting document.

“Once such information will come through the employer, and then all this will work automatically.

Now there is a transitional period, which was needed to adapt all this, "- explained Nilov.

Valery Ryazansky, Deputy Head of the Federation Council Committee on Social Policy, also pointed out that even in the absence of funds, the employer will no longer have problems with payments.

“Employers cannot pay, there are all sorts of problems with the current account, and with bankruptcy, and with everything else.

As a result, it turns out that sick leave payments are not paid due to the employer's problems, "the senator told RT.

At the same time, he admitted that the time of payment from the employer and from the fund will differ slightly.

"Payments should go directly from the fund, and after that the fund will present its legal claims to the employer," Ryazansky said.

In this case, the senator noted, the employee receives everything due to his sick leave, and all legal proceedings are carried out between the fund and the employer.