Implementation of Electronic Sick Leave

Healthcare institutions have already begun making preparations for the issuing of e-sick leaves some time ago. Have you already prepared for this change in your company?

A key change for employers is that from 1 February 2020 onwards they will only be able to receive sick leave certificates from their employees in electronic form (eBOL). While the information to be included on sick leave certificates remains unchanged, employers will no longer need to wait for employees to physically hand in the sick leave certificates (or ask their employees to do so), as they will be able to access them as soon as they are entered into the system.

Written sick leave certificates will only be issued to those employees who are employed by employers who are not registered in the Business Register of Slovenia (e.g. private individuals, persons employed by foreign and international organizations and institutions, foreign consular and diplomatic missions in the Republic of Slovenia etc.).

Another important advantage of e-sick leave certificates is the simplified enforcement of reimbursement claims against HIIS (Health Insurance Institute of Slovenia). Although the employer will still have to actively claim reimbursement, they will no longer need to attach photocopies of sick leave certificates. It will also allow automatic entry of data from eBOL into the employer information system for the calculation of salaries and allowances, as well as for the preparation of claims for reimbursement.

Individual taxpayers will no longer be required to attach sick leave certificates or the information stipulated on the reverse side of them with their claims for reimbursement, which until now was completed by the Financial Administration of the Republic of Slovenia. Employers will only need to file an application with the HIIS for payment of the salary compensation at the expense of compulsory health insurance, stating their transaction account and the period for which they want compensation (HIIS will be able to obtain all other information on its own).

It is important that, prior to the introduction of the described change, employers are equipped with the appropriate technical means to access e-sick leave certificates and, therefore, to grant the appropriate (electronic) authorisation (in the SPOT system) to the persons who will access them or who will be in charge of processing sick leave certificates. Before it can act on behalf of the employer the proxy must be pre-registered with the employer using a digital certificate. It will be possible to arrange the authorisation electronically, via the SPOT system (expected only after January 1, 2020) or in writing (when the relevant forms will be prepared – expected after December 16, 2019).

Instructions for employers regarding use of the eNDM interface for downloading electronic sick leave certificates and for upgrading e-claim requests are available at this link.

The changes described above should also simplify matters for employees and other persons (for example persons employed by private individuals not engaged in business, shareholders, farmers…), as they will be able to access their electronic sick leave certificates remotely, through the HIIS portal.

Insured persons will be able to verify via the portal whether their personal doctor has already issued the electronic sick leave. They will also have access to their own archive of electronic sick leave certificates, which will help with (for example) claiming damages and similar claims. Employees will also need to be registered with the appropriate digital authorisations in order to access the above-mentioned data.