Unjustified sick-leave – impact and remedies

Abstract

This paper deals with the problem of issuing unsubstantiated sick-leaves in Latvia. It adopts a comparative perspective contrasting legislation in Latvia and Spain regarding sick-leaves. It also looks at the document in historical and international law perspective.As such the document is simple and precise – it give time to recuperate and rights to income replacement to any employed person who is sick. The scope of the document in Latvia is wider than pure sickness – it includes maternity benefits and support in case of illness of a child under 14. There are more problems with unsubstantiated sick-leaves in Latvia than in Spain, and there are instant measures that Latvia could adopt, for instance, issue guidelines to doctors that would be an objective reference aimed at minimizing human error or personal compassion with patient. The paper finds that there is not enough evidence to conclude that corruption in the form of bribery is the largest problem for issuing unsubstantiated sick-leaves, yet there are factors that directly or through corruption could stimulate issuance of unsubstantiated sick-leaves. The conclusion is that sick-leave must be used only for the purpose it has been conceived of and any other use outside this remit should be eliminated, in most of the cases – through increased flexibility of the respective policy areas.