Work-Shy Macedonians Could be Jailed

The number of sick leaves has doubled, authorities say

Macedonia is unveiling harsh penalties, including jail terms, for civil servants who misuse sick leave to stay home, costing the state budget dearly.

The Health and Labour ministries have joined hands to propose prison terms of six months to three years for anyone caught red-handed.

Companies will be tasked to inspect their employees at home to see whether they are really ill, while the Ministry of Health said it intended to monitor what doctors were up to.

“We will be able to see [through an electronic database] whether the same patients are being given the same diagnosis by the same doctors,” Health Minister Nikola Todorov explained.
 
According to a survey by the State Health Fund, misuse of sick leaves in the public administration has risen in recent years, despite recent changes in labour laws that make it easier to sack work-shy public servants.

This year alone the state lost 15 million euro on sick leave, the authorities say, arguing that this sum could and should be much smaller if they introduced stricter controls.
 
“The number of sick leaves has doubled. In 2007 we have had some 10,000 sick leaves and this year the number was 20,000”, says Maja Parnardzieva Zmejkova, from the State Health Fund.
 
She says it is especially worrying that younger, presumably fitter, employees, aged 25 to 35 were claiming sick leave the most.
 
The Health Ministry hopes the threat of draconian penalties will act start deterring people from duping the system in the first place.

The ministries were unable to say when these changes might take effect. The Health Ministry said that several items of labour legislation will have to be changed first.