Are you interested in all the intricacies of psychiatric examination of employees? And it is right!
Everyone knows about medical examinations and their types, as well as how often they should be carried out and what the usual fine is if the employer does not fulfill its obligations.
But not many people know that this is not all! When sending an employee for a medical examination, be it preliminary or periodic, you must issue another referral. The employee must undergo a mandatory psychiatric examination.
Haven't heard of it before? Then you should read this note to the end. Perhaps it will save you from future problems and fines.
Psychiatric examination upon hiring
A psychiatric examination is a check by a medical commission consisting of psychiatrists in order to identify psychological disorders, the presence of which is considered a contraindication for work in a particular position.
You may have never thought that in addition to a certificate from a psychiatrist when applying for employment, an employee may also need a psychiatric examination.
So this is the same thing? Why is there a need for some other psychiatric examination of workers... However, no!
For the first time, you may encounter the lack of a psychiatric examination either when undergoing an inspection by the Labor Inspectorate, or if you have an accident, so let's figure out who needs to provide such a conclusion.
Who should undergo a psychiatric examination?
And nowhere without a banal standard - Article 213 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation clearly states that workers engaged in certain types of activities, including those associated with sources of increased danger, undergo a mandatory psychiatric examination, and at least once every five years.
It doesn’t hurt to look into the Rules for Compulsory Psychiatric Examination by Employees, approved by Decree of the Government of the Russian Federation of September 23, 2002 N 695.
In the list there is a list of professions that must confirm their adequacy every five years, and the list is very extensive, having many factors and positions.
And also do not forget about the special assessment, hazard class 3 and higher, because all employees who will work in harmful or dangerous conditions provide an opinion from a psychiatric commission.
If a future employee does not want to undergo a psychiatric examination, the employer has the right to refuse employment.
Yes, of course, there may be smart people who say that in paragraph 2 of the Decree of the Government of the Russian Federation of September 23, 2002 N 695, this medical examination is carried out only on a voluntary basis.
Fine! But the employer can also refuse employment. Let's look at Part 3 of Art. 76 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation and Art. 212 Labor Code of the Russian Federation.
What is a psychiatric examination
After all, there is a psychiatrist’s mark in the medical report during the preliminary medical examination. This is a natural question. Is it still worth carrying out a mandatory psychiatric examination of workers or not?
I have personally experienced hundreds of times that purchased reports are provided, and even test results and ECGs are included.
And how do you check them? No way. There are only suspicions!
Moreover, the employee may not submit documents to the accounting department in order to be reimbursed for expenses for medical services. But why not check everyone?!
And the hospital will not confirm or deny this information for you, so as not to tarnish its reputation, not to reveal medical confidentiality, and you are not from the “police”...
Therefore, the purpose of psychiatric examination of workers when hiring for safety specialists and management personnel is to identify and prevent persons from certain jobs who have a predisposition to inappropriate behavior or who have psychiatric diseases.
In assessing the ability of a particular person to perform the work assigned to him without harming his health and the health of the people around him.
Eg:
- food handlers are referred for psychiatric evaluation to prevent mass poisoning;
- and workers involved in driving vehicles - to prevent mass deaths.
And when you have decided what a psychiatric examination is when hiring, why it is necessary and whether you have this contingent, we move on to what it is really needed for and will start with fines, what liability exists under the law.
Fines for lack of psychiatric examination
I have heard more than once that the responsible employee learns about the obligatory psychiatric examination of workers only when an accident at work is being investigated.
This is somehow rarely talked about and not many people know, although this obligation is enshrined in Part 7 of Art. 213 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation and came into force in 2015.
The inspector will definitely ask for the decision of the medical commission that conducted the mandatory psychiatric examination, and if you do not provide it, he will be fined accordingly in the same way as for the absence of a medical examination for an employee. And it doesn’t matter that there is a preliminary or periodic medical examination, the article is the same (Part 3, Article 5.27.1 of the Administrative Code):
- if you are an official or individual entrepreneur, the fine will be from 15,000 to 25,000 rubles;
- for legal entities from 110,000 to 130,000 rubles.
If it turns out that there is more than one violation, then the fine can increase significantly and for the employer it will be like purchasing a new car - it is better to drive a car than to pay a lot of money for ignorance of the laws.
As everyone knows, medical examinations and psychiatric examinations of employees, including, are carried out at the expense of the employer. Confirmation in Art. 213 Labor Code of the Russian Federation.
It is worth noting that the size of the fine depends on the number of workers who were not examined; it turns out that the amount of the fine can be very significant!
I don’t argue, the inspector may turn out to be very loyal and issue a fine based on one violation, but ignorance of this nuance or lack of funding may still cost the employee his life!
And these gaps can even cost a worker his life! As an example, I will give you a story from the life of my reader.
There was the following incident in my life. Worked in the military registration bureau (Ukraine). Employment of men occurs through us. An industrial fatality occurs at a mine.
I tell the personnel officers: “You were smart enough to hire him. His military ID says he is unfit for military service. And the article is worth it. They would call and decipher it if they didn’t find this order on the Internet.”
And he was unfit for psychiatry. They put the guy to work, where the mechanisms were spinning and spinning. So he was pulled under the conveyor belt.
It’s a pity for the guy, but a competent specialist would not have allowed him to do such work. I think in Russia, too, you can read a lot on military IDs and draw conclusions when applying for a job.
A medical examination and psychiatric examination could save a person's life!
List of professions for psychiatric examination of workers
Of course, not all employees need to be sent to check their adequacy in the hospital.
Pleasure is not cheap for an employer! But there’s no escape; you have to pay for the work without incidents or fines.
Inspections for 2020 cost from 1,200 to 2,000 rubles, so if you admit, for example, 50 people a year, then you will need from 60,000 to 100,000 rubles and an agreement with the hospital.
Therefore, I suggest you watch a video in which I talk in detail about the list of professions of workers sent for a psychiatric examination, and also leave a link to my Youtube channel, where you can find other useful information.
How is a psychiatric examination carried out?
Mandatory psychiatric examinations of workers must be carried out “smartly”, and not just write out a referral and then file the decision of the medical commission in a folder.
If an inspector comes with an inspection and the matter comes to the OPO, you should have the following package of documents ready:
- Agreement for psychiatric examination of employees.
- Order on the appointment of persons responsible for public safety organizations.
- Order for referral for psychiatric examination.
- List of persons sent to OPO.
- List for medical institutions.
Not so much, there is nothing complicated in the design, and now I will analyze everything in more detail.
Where to undergo mandatory psychiatric examination of workers
When a company does not have branches or separate divisions in different cities, and all employees live and work in the same locality, this is an ideal option for concluding a contract for conducting public benefit activities.
When organizing a psychiatric examination, you need to consider the following details:
- Not all medical institutions have the necessary equipment.
- There must be a specially trained medical commission.
- And the most important fact. The organization with which you decide to enter into an agreement must have a license to conduct mandatory psychiatric examinations. No other way. But there are not so many such organizations, usually these are psychoneurological dispensaries.
When a psychiatric examination of workers is carried out, a device such as an electroencephalograph is used.
During the examination, a special cap with sensors that read electrical impulses from the brain is put on the patient's head. Usually the procedure lasts 20 minutes.
It allows you to identify a lot of even minor deviations in health, which the employee may not even be aware of.
The commission consists of psychiatrists who have undergone special training and are accredited. In many hospitals there are one or two psychiatrists, but there should be at least three, which already indicates the impossibility of organizing a psychiatric examination.
You enter into an agreement with them and there will be no claims from the GIT if something happens.
Order on the appointment of persons responsible for conducting a psychiatric examination
The person responsible for conducting the mandatory psychiatric examination must be and, preferably, assigned by order. There is no mandatory requirement, but if something happens it’s easier to find the last resort ☺
Indicate in the order who must do what so that the psychiatric examination of employees is organized from start to finish.
Order to send employees for a psychiatric examination
In order to be transparent about who needs to be sent for a psychiatric examination this year, an order must be prepared to send employees for a psychiatric examination.
List the employees as a separate appendix to the order.
Refusal of an employee to undergo general training
Psychiatric examination of employees must be voluntary and you have no right to force an employee.
What is this happening?!
The employer is obliged to send an employee, and if he does not comply with the requirement of the law, he faces a fine of up to 130,000 rubles.
If he refuses, remove him!
We had one such “comrade” in our organization; his period of completion of the general education program had come to an end, and just at that time strange things began to be noticed about him.
It was in the north, and residential towns provide saunas. So, one of our employees often went to the bathhouse in full winter uniform.
Everyone looked at him “wildly” and asked what was the matter? He smiled and said that everything was fine, he wanted to warm the bones.
Sometimes he said that he communicated with some unearthly creatures. He did not show aggression, but a decision was made to urgently send him to the “mainland.”
He categorically refused to undergo a psychiatric examination, but in this case the law allows the employee to be suspended from work without pay.
Although this is a voluntary procedure, at the same time, a psychiatric examination is the responsibility of the employee (paragraph 6, part 2, article 21, paragraph 6, article 214 of the Labor Code). If you refuse, you can get discipline!
Afterwards, you need to re-notify the employee that you need to undergo an educational training, indicating the deadline. Refusal? The employee receives a second disciplinary punishment and dismissal under clause 5, part 1, article 81 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation.
There is even judicial practice on this matter, and the court in such cases sides with the employer. That is, an employee has no right to refuse to fulfill his duties to the employer without a valid and justified reason.
Referral for mandatory psychiatric examination
If the employee agrees to undergo examination, he must be given a referral for a mandatory psychiatric examination.
As I said above, the OPO procedure is not quick; the law allocates 20 days and no more for a psychiatric examination (clause 7 of the Rules, approved by Government Decree No. 695 of September 23, 2002).
This period of time is allocated to, if necessary, request information about the health status of those who have applied to other health care facilities. Moreover, if necessary, the period can be extended, but not by more than 10 days.
In any case, after making a decision, the medical commission prepares a certificate of suitability or unsuitability of the employee, and must issue it within 3 days.
The employee will receive the decision in hand, but will not be able to withhold information about the results, since the hospital will send a notice to the employer about when the decision was made and handed over to the employee.
How often are psychiatric examinations of employees carried out?
A frequently asked question is how often are psychiatric examinations of employees carried out?
- Before employment and before undergoing a preliminary medical examination.
- Subsequently, psychiatric examinations of employees are carried out every 5 years.
- If an employee shows signs of mental abnormalities and disorders, then an OPO is carried out ahead of schedule, when providing medical care or when sending for a medical examination.
- In case of transfer of an employee to another position where the harmful factors have changed. If they remain the same, then a psychiatric examination is carried out no earlier than after 5 years; it is not required.
List of persons subject to mandatory psychiatric examination.
As they say, you can’t keep track of everyone, especially if the company is not five people, so I recommend making a list of the contingent for a psychiatric examination for the current year. This will simplify your work and you can open and check at any time who will be sent to OPO in which month during the year.
The hospital will also need a list for a psychiatric examination. It is permissible to use the above only if the hospital does not have its own specific design requirements.
How is the psychiatric commission conducted?
The employer is obliged to issue the employee a referral for a psychiatric examination, which indicates what kind of work he performs and under what conditions he works. The employee needs to take this direction and a passport (for men - a military ID).
The doctor’s task is not to assess IQ, but to identify deviations that lead to a psychiatric diagnosis and interfere with coping with work. Therefore, the psychiatrist's questions may seem stupid. For example, they may be asked to explain the meaning of a proverb or solve a third-grade arithmetic problem.
Many people know about the famous joke of psychiatrists: “we don’t have healthy people, we only have underexamined ones.” Should you worry about being diagnosed if you are healthy? Some points need to be clarified here:
- The results will not be affected by your mood. If you got off on the wrong foot today and are in a bad mood, there is nothing wrong with that. This clearly does not qualify as a psychiatric diagnosis.
- You will not be considered unfit for work due to psychological problems. Today, many people experience chronic stress and depression (not to be confused with the disease - clinical depression). After the medical examination, you will be recommended to consult a specialist, but you will continue to work as before.
- Even if you have been diagnosed, you have the right to undergo re-examination. A second medical commission may overturn the initial verdict.
Typically, a mandatory psychiatric examination lasts no longer than 30 minutes. Based on the results, the employee is given a decision from the medical commission - it must be ready within 20 days. Within three working days after the commission makes a decision, the employer is informed of the date the decision was made and the date it was issued to the employee.
Main conclusions
Having looked at the fines of supervisory authorities, I am once again convinced that complying with the requirements of the law is much cheaper for employers than neglecting them.
It’s easier to follow common sense, knowing how much it will cost you, and turn a blind eye to labor safety requirements. And accordingly, understand that by identifying psychiatric abnormalities in time, you can protect the person himself and the people around him at the enterprise.
I’ll pause here and wish you safe and efficient work.
Share your experiences in the comments, and if the topic seems to you not to be fully covered or you have any related questions, write in the comments, we will definitely discuss everything, add to it, improve it ☺
The legislative framework
Features of a psychiatric examination are regulated by a number of regulations, such as:
- Labor Code. In particular, its article 213. It sets out a list of specialists who are required to undergo verification.
- Government Decree No. 695 of September 23, 2002 regulates the mandatory inspection for certain types of activities.
- Federal Law dated 02.07. 1992 No. 3185-1 establishes contraindications for certain types of activities. If an employee is found to have a disorder, he will not be able to apply for a position for five years.
- Government Decree No. 377 of April 28, 1993. It specifies psychiatric disorders that are an absolute contraindication for a number of professions.
Each of the regulations regulates a separate area of psychiatric examination.
FOR YOUR INFORMATION! A psychiatric examination is different from a regular medical examination. It is carried out by at least three doctors. Only centers with the appropriate licenses can issue a certificate of completion of the examination.
