What are Poles doing on L4? Note, this may result in discipline

ZUS is looking more and more closely at abuses related to L4 and receives benefits more often. Unfortunately, it still does not make a big impression on left sick people who take it to renovate their home, go on vacation or because it simply pays off.

1. ZUS more and more often decides to undergo inspections of employees on sick leave
2. If it turns out that L4 is misused, the employee may lose the right to an allowance or rehabilitation benefit.
3. Workers may also fear consequences in the workplace. You may even end up dismissal
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In the period of January-May 2021, Poles were on sick leave in total 116 thousand. 305 days. The amount of payments due to sickness absence exceeded PLN 11,2 million.

The problem of the abuse of sick leaves

As shown by ZUS data, in 2020, compared to 2019, the number of days of sickness absence due to own disease of the insured was higher by 7,2%, and the number of medical certificates – by 4,1%. The average duration of sickness absence cumulated over the entire year was 39,27 days.

In the opinion of ZUS, which can be found in the authority’s report for 2020, the phenomenon of sickness absence concerns many aspects of the functioning of society. It is a measure of the health condition of the population and a significant indirect cost of the disease. The scale of absenteeism is evidenced by, inter alia, on the effectiveness of the health care system and the situation on the labor market. Unfortunately, the problem is the abuse of sick leave. As experts point out, using L4 for purposes other than recovery is a manifestation of dishonesty, and also affects the functioning of the enterprise and its employees.

Further part below the video.

It pays off not to work

Professional absenteeism concerns a group of people who work for a certain period and then go on sick leave, because it pays them off. It turns out that some workplaces have specialized files and people calculating when it is profitable to come to work and when not. For example, if you want to have a bonus or a higher salary, and it is worse in a given month, it may turn out that sick pay is better than coming to work. As Mikołaj Zając, president of Conperio, a consulting company dealing with sickness absenteeism and an expert on the labor market, points out, the reason for the absence is not only lazy employees, but also serious mistakes made by enterprises and their management staff.

The expert believes that companies that do not require highly specialized knowledge to practice, usually look very similar. There are minimal differences in the content of the work and in wages, which means that employees do not identify with companies.

1. See also: New L4 Rules. Who is gaining and who is losing?

Sick leave under the scrutiny of the Social Insurance Institution (ZUS)

The growing number of sick leaves prompted ZUS to increase control of the L4. From year to year, there are more and more of them and they bring results.

ZUS may inspect sick leave in two areas:

1. The control of the correctness of adjudication on temporary incapacity for work is formal – ZUS or the employer may check whether the issued leave was issued in accordance with the provisions on the rules and procedure for issuing medical certificates, and whether it was forged.

2. ZUS or the employer (employing at least 20 employees) may control the correct use of sick leave – check whether the sick person does not use the sick leave in a manner inconsistent with its purpose and whether he complies with the prohibition of non-gainful employment.

ZUS inspection is carried out at the employee’s place of residence, place of temporary stay or at the employee’s second place of work or in the place where he conducts business activity.

According to MedTvoiLokony, legal advisor Adam Wróblewski from the Adam Wróblewski Law Firm, the inspecting person may visit the employee in the place indicated as the place of stay in the ZUS e-ZLA certificate. Therefore, it is important to knowingly provide whereabouts information when talking to your doctor. When we intend to use the help of a loved one and stay in a place other than our place of residence during illness, we must report it to the doctor. The same is true when we intend to change our place of stay during a longer sick leave – remember to notify both the employer and the Social Insurance Institution about this circumstance.

– When the inspector does not find us at the declared place of stay, he should call us to provide explanations. Remember that sick leave does not mean you have to stay in one place all the time – explains the expert. – Often the necessity to leave the place of the declared stay results from the disease itself – when, for example, we have to go to the pharmacy to buy the prescribed drugs or for tests or another medical appointment. We should remember, however, that the burden of proof in the event that the inspecting person does not find the sick person at home rests with the employee – so remember to collect documents concerning, for example, medical visits during sick leave.

Consequences of using the exemption contrary to its intended use

The consequence of using L4 contrary to its intended purpose is the deprivation of the right to:

1. sickness benefit for the entire period covered by the controlled sick leave, except for the period of stay in the hospital;
2. care allowance for the entire period covered by the controlled dismissal;
3. rehabilitation benefit for the calendar month in which the irregularity was discovered, except for the period of stay in the hospital.

Incorrect use of L4 can also have a negative impact on the employment relationship.

– If, as a result of the inspection, it turns out that during the sick leave the employee performs paid activities or otherwise incorrectly uses the leave, the consequences can be very serious – explains Adam Wróblewski, legal advisor. – The result of the inspection proves that the employer is cheating, and thus may be the reason for termination of the employment relationship due to the loss of trust in the employee, or even immediate dismissal – the so-called disciplinarian without the notice period. The use of a sick leave as a gateway to unlawfully leaving work is a serious violation of basic employee obligations – summarizes the expert.

What is L4 used for

There are many examples of what the “sick” do on sick leave – the most popular are: renovation, household work, building a house, mending the roof, painting, taking care of children. And also excursions, sports, entertainment. A large percentage is paid work on sick leave, incl. by welders, IT specialists. Work in a taxi, car wash, restaurant.

Why, despite the fact that we know that there are penalties for non-compliance with the rules on L4, are we breaking the law?

– This is due to our “mental nature” – we have an argument for everything. Also in a situation of distortion of reality – says Dr. Leszek Mellibruda, social and business psychologist, whom MedTvoiLokony asked for a statement. In the psychologist’s opinion, many different factors play an important role here. Psychological research has shown that in a situation of encountering extreme events (death of people as a result of diseases, natural disasters), lowering the sensitivity to these events may be an unconscious mechanism of “raising” (unconsciously) social status.

– The research of Top-Managers and their subordinates showed that the higher in the hierarchy of the organization the given persons were, the more likely they were to undercut the number of deaths and reduce their social importance. Do we want to be more important in the eyes of others in this way? Not others. Own – summarizes the expert.

We encourage you to listen to the latest episode of the RESET podcast. This time we are talking about the war in Ukraine and the drama of our eastern neighbors. We help as much as we can, but we ourselves are full of fears. Is it possible to get rid of them? How to help, but also how to take care of yourself? You will hear about this and many others below.

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