The National Assembly has adopted a new Law on the Exchange of Data, Documents, and Notifications in Cases of Temporary Incapacity for Work through the Software Solution “e-Sick Leave – Employer.”

The Law was published in the Official Gazette last week and will be applied as of January 1, 2026.

Primarily, the Law provides that the following activities will be carried out through the new e-Sick Leave – Employer portal:

• exchange of documents issued by the selected physician between healthcare institutions and employers – certificates and reports on temporary incapacity for work (sick leave certificates);

• submission of requests by employers to the Republic Health Insurance Fund (RHIF) for reimbursement of salary compensation for employees on sick leave, as well as receipt of calculations from the RHIF;

• submission of objections or requests, and receipt of notifications containing information on the assessments of the first-instance or second-instance medical commissions regarding submitted objections or requests;

• receipt of notifications containing information on the assessment of the first-instance medical commission based on the proposal of the selected physician.

The Law also describes how the document exchange procedure will function once its application begins.

When a selected physician “opens” sick leave for an employee, they issue a certificate confirming the occurrence of temporary incapacity for work. Until now, employees were required to submit this certificate to their employer within three days from the start of sick leave. As of the application of this Law, the certificate will be issued in electronic form and will be automatically available to the employer on the e-Sick Leave portal once the physician opens the sick leave. Employees will no longer be required to deliver the certificate to their employer, as employers will retrieve it directly from the portal.

Sick leave certificates (“doznaka”) issued by the selected physician will also be in electronic form and available on the portal after being created by the physician. The certificate contains the identification code of the physician who issued it and is considered an accounting document.

All documentation will also be available to the RHIF through the information system of the Ministry of Health.

An electronic sick leave certificate will be issued automatically if:

• the physician does not extend the sick leave and the patient does not appear for a follow-up examination, and

• at the end of the month, if the sick leave continues into the following month.

In order to use the new portal, employers are required to register as users, as follows:

• companies must register by January 1, 2026;

• entrepreneurs who employ at least one person must register by January 1, 2027.

At the time of writing this text, the new portal is not yet available for user registration.