eBolovanje for employers: sick leave in Serbia and RFZO claims

eBolovanje – Poslodavac (“eSick leave – Employer”) is the state portal on eUprava, the eGovernment portal, through which an employer collects the electronic sick notes (doznake) of its employees, follows the status of sick leave and files claims with the National Health Insurance Fund (RFZO) for the calculation or reimbursement of salary compensation. The employee’s chosen doctor opens, extends and closes sick leave in the eBolovanje system, and the employer sees all of it on the portal — without paper and without waiting for the employee to bring a certificate.

The legal basis is the Law on the Exchange of Data, Documents and Notifications in the Event of Temporary Incapacity for Work Using the e-Bolovanje – Poslodavac Software Solution (Zakon o razmeni podataka, dokumenata i obaveštenja u slučaju nastupanja privremene sprečenosti za rad korišćenjem softverskog rešenja e-Bolovanje – Poslodavac, „Službeni glasnik RS“ no. 109/2025) and the rulebook that accompanies it (71/2026).

A sole trader and a flat-rate taxpayer without employees are not obliged. The law also provides fines for not joining the system: for a legal entity from 50.000 to 200.000 dinars, for a sole trader from 10.000 to 50.000, for the responsible person from 5.000 to 25.000.

• The first 30 days — the employer. The compensation is at least 65 % of the employee’s average salary over the previous 12 months (Labour Law — Zakon o radu, article 115), and 100 % when the cause is an injury at work or an occupational disease. It is paid together with the regular salary and goes into the PPP-PD payroll tax return under its own income type code — not under salary.
• From the 31st day — RFZO. The employer still pays the compensation to the employee and then claims it from RFZO: with a reimbursement claim (the money is returned to the employer) or a calculation claim (RFZO pays into the employer’s dedicated account). This part also goes into the PPP-PD under its own code (compensation borne by RFZO).
• An exception from the first day. For the care of a sick child under three years of age RFZO bears the compensation from the first day of sick leave.

The claim to RFZO for salary compensation is filed within 15 days of the salary payment to the other employees for that month. It is filed by the legal representative or an authorised person (the accountant can be authorised) and signed with a qualified electronic certificate. With the first claim for that sick leave the portal asks for:

• The certificate of earnings (potvrda o ostvarenoj zaradi) for the 12 months before the month in which the sick leave began — per month: paid hours, net, gross and the payment date. On the portal it is filled in by hand or uploaded as an XML file of a precisely defined structure (retyping five numbers twelve times by hand is where errors most often arise; the details are in the next section).
• Payslips per month for the same months, as separate PDF files.

RFZO then issues a decision and a calculation (form OZ-10) that is visible on the portal. The right to reimbursement can be exercised for up to three years, but the 15-day deadline is the deadline for the regular procedure.

The certificate of earnings is part of the claim to RFZO: it is attached to the first claim for the calculation or reimbursement of compensation for that sick leave. On the portal it is filled in by hand or uploaded as an XML file following the official sample from eUprava. RFZO uses it to calculate the average salary from which the compensation is determined.

• Which months. Twelve consecutive months before the month in which the sick leave began. For sick leave that begins in March 2026 that is March 2025 to February 2026.
• What is entered for each month. The total number of paid hours, net salary, gross salary and the payment date.
• The XML format. Amounts with a decimal point and two decimals (115000.00), hours as a whole number, the payment date in the form DD-MM-YYYY.
• No employee details. The file contains neither the personal ID number (JMBG) nor the tax ID (PIB) — the certificate is tied to the employee in the claim itself on the portal.
• A month with no salary data. Is not entered. RFZO takes the minimum wage for it itself, and no separate statement is attached.

The certificate is accompanied by the payslips for the same months — each as a separate PDF, up to 1 MB per file — and an extract from the PPP-PD.

In duplo the certificate is made on the employee card: you choose the month in which the sick leave began, and the software loads 12 months from the closed payroll runs. Several runs for the same month are added together, with the date of the last payment. Months without a payroll run you fill in by hand or leave empty. You download the XML following the official sample from the portal, and the payslips for the same months as a ZIP, with one PDF for each month.

• They do not see the sick note. The employee is on sick leave, the doctor has entered everything, and the employer is waiting for a piece of paper that never arrives — because it is not registered on the portal or no one is looking.
• Sick leave goes into the return under salary. Sick-leave compensation has its own income type codes (up to 30 days, injury at work, borne by RFZO). Software that sends everything under one code produces a return that is formally wrong.
• They miss the 31st day. While the sick leave lasts, no one counts the days — and from the 31st day the cost is no longer the employer’s. Without records that flag it, reimbursement is not claimed or is claimed late.
• They retype 12 months of earnings by hand. The certificate of earnings is filled in from payroll runs that already exist — every manual retyping is a chance for an error that RFZO sends back.

The portal has no API, so duplo works with files: the sick-leave export from the portal (XML or JSON) is imported into the records and matched with the employees — without diagnoses and other health data, which are not read. From the records the software itself suggests the sick-leave lines in the payroll run by day (up to the 30th day borne by the employer, from the 31st by RFZO), sends them in the PPP-PD under the right codes with the exact number of days, counts the deadline for the claim from the payment date and reminds you until the claim is filed. On the employee card the certificate of earnings is filled in from the closed payroll runs and downloaded as XML for the portal, together with a ZIP of payslips per month.

All of this is part of the Payroll module in the Kancelarija plan, at no extra charge. The details are in the documentation (Serbian): eBolovanje — sick leave from the portal, payroll and the claim to RFZO and Payroll.

Does the employee still bring a paper sick note?

No. For sick leave opened from 1 January 2026 the doctor issues the sick note (doznaka) electronically, and the employer collects it on the eBolovanje – Poslodavac portal. The employee has nothing to bring — but the employer must be registered on the portal to see the sick note.

I am a sole trader with two employees — from when does this concern me?

From 1 January 2027. Until then you may use the portal voluntarily, and from that date you are obliged just like companies. A sole trader without employees (and a flat-rate taxpayer without employees) is not obliged.

Can my payroll software connect to the portal?

No — the portal has no programmatic access (API), and that is stated in the official questions and answers. Everything is done exclusively through the web portal with an eID sign-in. What software can do is read the file the portal exports and produce the files the portal asks for (the certificate of earnings in XML and the payslips).

Who pays for sick leave?

The first 30 days the employer — at least 65 % of the employee’s average salary over the previous 12 months, and 100 % for an injury at work. From the 31st day the compensation is borne by RFZO, the National Health Insurance Fund: the employer pays it out and then claims it back with a request on the portal. For the care of a child under three, RFZO bears the compensation from the first day.

What is the deadline for the claim to RFZO?

Fifteen days from the day the salary for that month is paid to the other employees. The claim is filed on the portal and signed with a qualified certificate, and the first claim for that sick leave is accompanied by the certificate of earnings for the previous 12 months and the payslips for each month.

What if I miss the deadline?

The right to reimbursement does not lapse straight away — it can be claimed for up to three years. But the 15-day deadline is the deadline for the regular procedure, and late claims mean late money. That is why it matters that the software counts the deadline from the payment date and reminds you.

Which months does the certificate of earnings cover?

Twelve consecutive months before the month in which the sick leave began — for sick leave that begins in March 2026 that is March 2025 to February 2026. The months are counted from the start of the sick leave, not from the day the claim is filed.

What if there is no salary data for one of those months?

That month is not entered in the certificate. RFZO takes the minimum wage for it itself, and no separate statement is attached.

In what form does the portal accept the certificate of earnings?

Filled in by hand on the portal, or as an XML file following the official sample: for each month the total paid hours (a whole number), net and gross salary (with a decimal point) and the payment date in the form DD-MM-YYYY. The file contains neither the personal ID number (JMBG) nor the tax ID (PIB) — the certificate is tied to the employee in the claim itself.