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- Hanging up the fee: The voluntary sick leave program for the self-employed has failed
Hanging up the fee: The voluntary sick leave program for the self-employed has failed
The authorities expected that the amount of voluntary contributions from the self-employed for sick leave would reach billions of rubles, but the program has not yet aroused significant interest. As a result, the forecast of fees for 2027 was reduced by 103 times — from 16 billion to 156 million rubles, and the cost of benefits — by 341 times, from 9 billion to 26 million, follows from the draft budget of the SFR (Izvestia studied it). In the incomplete year 2026, about 12 thousand people joined the program — less than 0.1% of all self-employed. Insurance costs up to 23 thousand rubles per year, and the right to payments arises only after six months. People don't see any obvious benefits in the program, and many people are already paying for sick leave at their main place of work. What changes will help increase the demand for voluntary insurance can be found in the Izvestia article.
How to get sick leave for the self-employed
In Russia, the self-employed do not pay mandatory insurance premiums, so they are not automatically entitled to paid sick leave. If a person simultaneously works under an employment contract, they are paid for sick days as an ordinary employee.
For those who work for themselves, voluntary insurance has been launched since January 2026. The self-employed pays contributions to the SFR and, if they get sick, receives an allowance. The program is valid until the end of 2028, and you can join it until September 30, 2027 inclusive. It is also available to individual entrepreneurs who apply the Professional Income Tax (NAP). The benefit is paid if a person falls ill himself, is injured, or has been caring for a sick relative. Maternity benefits are not included in the program.
There are two amounts to choose from — 35 thousand and 50 thousand rubles. This is the basis for calculating benefits for a full month of illness. In 2026, the monthly contribution is 3.84% of the selected limit — 1.3 thousand or 1.9 thousand rubles, respectively. If you miss a payment, the insurance will be terminated.
However, you cannot receive money immediately after joining the program.: first, you need to pay contributions for six months. After that, the allowance is calculated from 70% of the selected amount, and after 12 months — from 100%. Then the total insurance record is taken into account, including previous employment. If he is less than five years old, the person is entitled to 60% of the estimated amount, from five to eight — 80%, from eight — 100%.
But so far, voluntary insurance has attracted few people. As of October 14, about 12 thousand people joined the program, the SFR reported. This is 0.07% of the 17.4 million registered self-employed, estimated by Izvestia. Of the program participants, over 4.4 thousand. They have already received the right to sick leave, the fund clarified.
The authorities had hoped for a much larger scale. In the budget of the Social Fund for 2026-2028, 16 billion rubles of contributions were expected for 2027, and 8.9 billion rubles were planned to be spent on benefits. Now the forecast has been sharply lowered. For the same 2027, the fund expects contributions of only 156 million rubles and plans to pay 26 million rubles in benefits, follows from the draft budget of the SFR for 2027-2029, which was reviewed by Izvestia. The amount of expected fees was reduced by about 103 times, and hospital expenses by 341 times.
At the same time, it is planned to collect almost six times more than it is paid out. The difference is explained by the rules of insurance: people pay premiums every month, and they receive money only for sick days and only after six months of waiting. The amount of the benefit also depends on the length of service and the due date.
The forecast of contributions and hospital expenses for the self-employed has been revised taking into account the first results of the program, the press service of the Ministry of Labor told Izvestia. They stressed that the experiment does not provide for mandatory targets. Participation remains voluntary, and the right to payments appears after six months of payment of contributions, the department recalled.
Izvestia sent requests to the Social Fund.
Why aren't they connecting to the program?
The self-employed do not yet see an understandable benefit in insurance, says Ekaterina Kosareva, managing partner of the VMT Consult agency. According to her, it is difficult to assess the benefits in advance, and payments for a short illness for five to seven days usually do not cover annual contributions. Additionally, the need to pay for six months first and only then qualify for benefits is discouraged.
For people with irregular earnings, insurance itself is expensive, added Natalia Milchakova, a leading analyst at Freedom Global. At current tariffs, it costs 16.1–23 thousand rubles per year. According to the expert, for some it is comparable to a monthly income.
At the same time, the self-employed can be treated for free without participating in the program: they are part of the compulsory medical insurance system. And those who work online and don't have to come to the office every day have less incentive to apply for sick leave, she said.
Many people do not need additional insurance for another reason. According to the financial advisor and founder of Rodin.According to Alexey Rodin, at least 60% of the self-employed also have a basic job with the right to sick leave payments. Therefore, the expert estimates the potential audience of the program at only 5-10% of the self-employed. At the same time, most people who do not follow the changes in laws simply do not know about this possibility, he added.
In his opinion, the temporary nature of the program does not add to confidence: now it acts as an experiment, and it may not be extended after 2028. Such uncertainty also prevents people from deciding to participate, the expert believes.
How to popularize voluntary insurance for the self-employed
There is a downside to low interest in insurance. If a self-employed person who does not pay dues becomes seriously ill and cannot work, he will be left without income for this time, Ekaterina Kosareva from VMT Consult notes.
There are risks for the Social Fund as well. If people leave self-employment, there will be fewer mandatory contributions, Natalia Milchakova from Freedom Global warned. In her opinion, this could create a risk of budget deficit in the SFR.
To attract participants, the Social Fund should explain more clearly how insurance works, Ekaterina Kosareva believes. For example, you can post a calculator on the website that will show how much a person will pay and what benefits they will receive in case of illness. There is also a lack of promotion: social advertising on platforms where the self-employed are looking for orders and in professional communities would help, she believes.
It is also possible to make the program more attractive through new payments, primarily maternity benefits, financial adviser Alexey Rodin suggested.
However, advertising and expanding the program alone are not enough — you need to lower the entry threshold, Natalia Milchakova believes. She suggests removing the six-month waiting period so that participants are eligible for sick leave sooner. In her opinion, an even more effective step would be to reduce the cost of insurance by half.
If contributions are made mandatory after 2028, this may have the opposite effect, Ekaterina Kosareva warned. People who don't need sick leave can go into the shadows, especially with small or irregular earnings. Then, according to the expert, the new requirements will interfere with the initial goal of the self—employment regime - to make the work of private performers legal.
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