On 18 April, the FICIL Labour Force & Requalification work group met with the Minister of Health, Līga Meņģelsone, to discuss issues related to sick leave certificates and ways to improve the mandatory health examination process.

During the meeting, the leader of the Labour Force & Requalification work group, Irina Kostina, introduced the Minister to FICIL’s recommendations. Recommendations propose to prevent the issuance of sick leave certificates without valid grounds while introducing a more effective control mechanism. This includes expanding the competency of the Health Inspectorate. Furthermore, Ms. Kostina reiterated FICIL’s recommendations to improve the mandatory health examination process. This can be achieved by increasing the availability of information and providing specific comments and recommendations for employers under the section titled “Special comments and recommendations for the employer”.

Minister of Health, Līga Meņģelsone, expressed her gratitude to FICIL for developing and presenting recommendations. Minister agreed that issuing a high number of sick leave certificates creates an additional burden for doctors. The Minister also emphasised the importance of further digitalisation of health sector processes to further increase transparency and make monitoring more effective.

You can read FICIL recommendations related to Labour force issues here.