A medical examination is an important part of checking the suitability of the applicant for a particular position. Of course, this does not apply to all professions, however, more and more applicants are faced with the need to carefully check their health status before they find out the employer's decision on employment. Considering that such examinations, as a rule, turn out to be quite expensive, a potential employee raises the question: who should pay for their medical examination? The applicant himself or the employer who established such a requirement for his employees? And if a potential employee is not suitable for this position, will they be compensated for his costs in this case? To answer this question, it is necessary to discuss in detail everything related to the initial physical examination for applicants, which will be done in this article. Be careful.
Medical examination at employment
There is a special category of enterprises for which the requirement is to ensure that the applicant undergoes a medical examination before a decision is made on his employment. This group of companies, as a rule, includes those organizations that deal with the gas or oil industry, as well as with nuclear energy. This is due to the fact that working conditions at such enterprises are incredibly dangerous for the health of workers, which means that new employees should be prepared for the corresponding workload at the time of their employment and not have contraindications for working in companies of this kind. The list of such requirements, as is known, is compiled directly by the Government of the Russian Federation. It is this document that contains information about all the contraindications for health that are associated with employment in the fields of gas, oil industry or nuclear energy.
Representatives of certain specialties are also required by law to undergo primary and subsequent regular examinations for HIV infection. Where could such applicants conduct a study? As a rule, this kind of procedure is provided for by law only for those employees who have contact with potentially infected people. That is, this paragraph describes the medical examination of medical workers. And they can be examined directly in the center in which they work, or where they plan to go to work.
Order of conduct
There are a number of conditions under which the initial and periodic medical examinations of employees must be carried out necessarily. All of them are recorded in the Labor Code of the Russian Federation. Thus, the legislation notes that it does not matter in which particular medical institution, public or private, the examination will be conducted. It is only important that it has an official license to carry out such activities. However, if it comes to examining a psychiatrist, then it will have to be done at a local neuropsychiatric clinic. In this case, inquiries from private specialists will not be sufficient.
The employer must fill out the employee’s referral for a physical examination, indicating in it which doctors should give their opinion.
What are the main stages of an applicant’s initial medical examination?
- Obtaining a direction that reflects information about the harmfulness and danger of working conditions, as well as about the requirements for the state of health of a potential employee. This document he will need to take with him to an appointment with a therapist in a particular medical institution.
- The therapist can either single-handedly decide on how much the job seeker meets the requirements of the chosen health profession, or refer the future employee to other examinations.
- Each doctor writes his opinion on the medical record.
- If the decision of the medical commission is positive, then the employee will be issued a health certificate in which this decision will be reflected. This document should be drawn up as required by current legislation. So, for example, it must necessarily contain the appropriate instructions and recommendations of a doctor. They may be associated with the requirement for the use of a hearing aid or glasses, if necessary for the correct performance of their duties.
- If the decision is negative, then the doctors draw up an appropriate certificate fixing all the physical restrictions that the applicant has in the context of their potential work responsibilities. Its original will be issued in person, and a copy of it must be sent to the company, at the request of which this examination was initiated.
Who is undergoing a physical examination
Who must undergo a physical examination when applying for a job? We are talking about these groups of people:
- minors;
- health workers;
- those associated with the work of the customs service, private security, as well as the police or departmental security services;
- employees of beauty industry institutions (namely, we are talking about hairdressers, cosmetologists, as well as nail service masters);
- personnel who work on a rotational basis;
- Athletes, regardless of sport;
- employees of health facilities;
- judges;
- laundry workers;
- persons whose official duties are associated with conditions of increased risk, as well as possible harm to health or danger to life;
- employees of any food production, as well as catering establishments;
- staff of educational and preschool institutions.
Who pays
Who should pay for the medical examination of workers? The Labor Code of the Russian Federation provides for the payment by the employer of a medical examination in the following cases:
- employees of the organization who undergo a scheduled physical examination during their work in the company;
- employees who need unscheduled diagnostic examinations on their own initiative during their work at the enterprise, subject to the preservation of the workplace and wages.
The frequency of medical examinations of employees is also determined by current legislation. This must be taken into account.
Medical examination of representatives of certain professions
Employees who work in hazardous industries or work in hazardous conditions, in works that are related to the movement of vehicles, are required to undergo both initial and periodic examinations, which are necessary in order to determine how suitable these employees are for performing their duties , as well as in order to prevent the development of occupational diseases.
Also, employees of food industry enterprises, catering establishments, institutions for children, medical organizations should undergo regular medical examinations in order to prevent the occurrence, spread of dangerous diseases in order to protect the health of the population as a whole. In some cases, medical examinations are carried out in the company directly at the beginning and at the end of each working day or shift. The time spent on this is included in working hours.
Payment Methods
Who should pay for the medical examination of workers? And how is payment made? There are several options available:
- The company has a legally certified agreement with a specific medical institution. As a rule, payment in such cases is made by bank transfer directly by the organization. The company prepares a schedule and lists of employees for medical examination.
- A potential employee can independently pay for his own examination, and his superiors undertake to compensate for the expenses spent together with the first wage.
However, this is not a completely safe option for the job seeker. As a rule, employers pay off employees no earlier than a few months from the date of employment. Sometimes the bosses convince their employees that they are obliged to pay for the first examination on their own, but only afterwards will the company finance the annual medical examination. And often, if the applicant has not been approached for medical reasons, and the employment contract has not been concluded, the management of the enterprises is at all reimbursed for something. It is important to know exactly what rights you have. All of the listed directors' actions are illegal. Even if an employment contract has not been concluded, or the employee has worked for an extremely short time, the cost of a medical examination should in any case be compensated.
At the request of the employer
There are cases when a physical examination when hiring legislation for a particular specialty is not provided (for example, this position is not included in the list of those for which an initial medical examination is mandatory), but the employer insists that a new employee undergo this procedure. What should the applicant know about this situation? Firstly, that in this case, a medical examination at hiring can be done only voluntarily, no one has the right to force or oblige him. Secondly, the survey is paid in full exclusively by the employer. Any other scenarios are not legal.
Payment and fixing
What should be known to those who have to pay for the medical examination of workers? That, according to the current legislation of the Russian Federation, the cost of such medical examinations cannot be taxed with value added tax. Among other things, no social fees from this amount can be made. The only exceptions are insurance premiums.
How to take into account the mandatory medical examination of employees in the accounting organization? If we are talking about those expenses that the company was forced to incur in connection with the calculations on the accounts of medical institutions for examining the employees of the enterprise or applicants during the initial examination, then they should take into account gross expenses for ordinary activities. And if a medical examination was performed at the expense of the employee? Compensation of funds refunded to him will be reflected in the financial statements as settlements with staff for other operations. If the medical examination was carried out in those institutions with which a service agreement was previously concluded, such a business transaction should be considered as settlements with contractors and suppliers.
Refund Disclaimer
Despite the fact that the vast majority of employers still well understand who should pay for the medical examination of employees, sometimes they refuse to compensate their employees for the expenses that they had to incur during a medical examination when hiring. Organization leaders explain their reluctance to pay due due variety of reasons. For example, they claim that it is not possible to reimburse an employee for the costs of a physical examination, because the organization’s budget does not have enough cash.How should an employee behave in such a situation? Such a person has the right to apply to the court with a lawsuit to recover from his employer the amount of money that the employee spent on undergoing a medical examination. Of course, he will need to provide documents confirming his words.
Conclusion
Based on the foregoing, it can be concluded that both primary and planned medical examinations are necessary for both the employees of the enterprise and its manager, regardless of who the costs of medical examination will be borne in the process of employment. Constant compliance with all the rules and requirements related to medical examinations provides quality care for the life and health of employees, as well as those with whom they work. It also allows you to detect dangerous diseases at an early stage of development and effectively overcome them. This justifies any costs that inevitably require events of this kind.
Take care of yourself and your employees! The cost of medical examinations always pays for itself. Health is something that can never be saved. After all, there is nothing more useful for an enterprise than a full staff of healthy and energetic workers who do not doubt the responsibility and law-abidingness of their employer.
Be interested in your rights and demand their observance from authorized persons. Follow legal requirements. It was created in order to protect you, and not in order to burden or oblige to incur unnecessary losses. And be always healthy!