Starting January 1, 2023, Russia introduced a new ceiling on sickness benefits. The press service of the Social Insurance Fund (FSS) announced the increase on Tuesday, December 20, noting the adjustment in their daily and monthly payment limits.
The daily maximum payout is set at 2,736.99 rubles, which translates to a monthly cap of 84,846.69 rubles for a 31-day month.
Under the updated rules, workers with more than eight years of work experience may qualify for the full benefit. In cases of sick leave, recipients can receive 100% of their average earnings, but the paid amount cannot exceed the specified maximum.
Officials emphasized that the calculation method remains unchanged—the amount of sick pay depends on the employee’s earnings and tenure over the preceding two years.
If the experience is under five years, the benefit is 60% of the average earnings. For experience between five and eight years, the benefit rises to 80%.
From 2023 onward, sick leave benefits will also be paid to employees who work under civil law contracts (GPC).
On January 1, amendments to Federal Law No. 237, enacted on July 14, 2022, will take effect. These amendments expand the list of insured persons under compulsory social insurance in cases of temporary disability and maternity coverage.
GPC workers will now be insured as well. The FSS explained that this means GPA employees will be eligible for temporary disability benefits in 2023 if the total insurance premiums paid for their benefit by policyholders in 2022, within the framework of their employment relationships, meet or exceed the cost of the insurance year.
The cost of the insurance year equals the minimum wage multiplied by 12 months, then multiplied by 2.9% at the start of the year. In early 2022, the minimum wage stood at 13,890 rubles. Accordingly, the insurance year cost for GPA employees is calculated as 4,833.72 rubles.
Additionally, if a district coefficient applies in a region, the minimum wage would be adjusted upward accordingly. The FSS concluded that the calculation of temporary disability benefits for those under a GPA contract will align with the approach used for employees under standard contracts, based on earnings in the previous two years or the minimum wage, whichever is applicable.
In other developments, a bill was submitted to the State Duma in early December proposing an annual supplement, specifically a 13th old-age pension. A year ago, a similar proposal from Vladimir Zhirinovsky received a negative opinion from the government, and experts note that the question of funding, estimated at about 600 billion rubles, remains unresolved.
Against this backdrop, data from Romir shows an uptick in the average weekly expenditure by Russians, rising 4.4% according to the study. The index reached 6,221 rubles with an annual increase of about 7% in the latest figures.
The average weekly shopping amount rose by 2.6%, totaling 716 rubles in monetary terms, and the study notes that this indicator is approximately 3.8% higher than the same period last year.