When an employee is unable to work, whether regarding common contingencies or a workplace accident, companies may have doubts about the kind of reports of temporary incapacity in Spain and about the established timeframes in which to send them to the Social Security.
Documents: temporary incapacity in Spain
When employees are sick or have an accident, they have to go to the Public Health Service or the Mutua de Accidentes de Trabajo, which will issue them two copies (one for them and one for the company) of the following documents:
Sick leave report: employees have three days, as from the issuance date, to provide the company this report.
Sick leave confirmation medical report: as in the previous case, employees have three days, as from the issuance date, to provide this report to the company.
Medical discharge report: workers must provide the company with the TI report within 24 hours of its issuance. This timeframe is the same for cases in which the TI process is short term and the worker must give the company a copy of the sick leave report/discharge report.
The timeframes previously referred to are considered to be working days and they begin from the day after the corresponding issuance.
If the employment relationship has terminated during the TI process, the worker must submit the reports directly to the Mutua or the managing entity within the timeframe established for the company, that is, within the timeframes previously indicated.
Failure to provide the corresponding entity or company with the TI reports in the timeframes established is considered to be a minor infringement. (Law on Social Order Infringements and Penalties, approved by Royal Legislative Decree 5/2000 of 4 August).
Once the company receives the TI medical report, it must submit the required data to the Social Security, which will then be responsible for calculating the monthly payment based on the information compiled. Submission of the reports to the Social Security outside the timeframes is considered to be a minor infringement under Article 21.6 of the Law on Social Order Infringements and Penalties (LISOS) and fines of up to €625 may be imposed. (Art. 40.1(a) LISOS).
If the sick leave is due to a workplace accident, in addition to submitting the medical report to the Social Security, submitting the accident report, within the timeframes and through the Delt@ System, must also be done using the following documents:
Accident report with sick leave: process the accident report through the Delt@ System within five working days as from the date of the accident or the sick leave (MO of 16 December 1987 and of 19 November 2002). Failure by the company to submit it constitutes a serious infringement that may be penalised by the Inspectorate of Work and Social Security with fines ranging from €626-1,250 (low degree), €1,251-3,125 (medium degree) or €3,126-6,250 (high degree).
Accident record without sick leave: companies must process the “Workplace Accident Record without Sick Leave” (RATSB) within the first five working days of the following month (MO of 16 December 1987 and of 19 November 2002). Failure to complete the RASTB each month constitutes a minor infringement that may be penalised by the Inspectorate of Work and Social Security with fines ranging from €60-125 (low degree), €126-310 (medium degree) or €311-625 (high degree).
Summary: temporary incapacity in Spain
Should all of that not be complied with, along with paying 20% on top of the Social Security sum, the Inspectorate of Work and Social Security may impose a fine, at the request of National Institute of Social Security (INSS) and General Social Security Treasury (TGSS), for submitting the medical and the workplace accident reports (TI – temporary incapacity in Spain) outside the timeframe. Finally, we recommend that companies exercise maximum caution in complying with the foregoing and with all other administrative procedures in order to avoid receiving a fine by the public administration.
Miriam Martínez