Drugstores sell fake certificates to workers for sick leave in Binh Duong and HCM City
The official certificate needed, according to regulations from the social insurance agencies, requires that hospitals or clinics certify an illness, as well as the treatment needed, before providing such a certificate. This certificate will guarantee sick leave, with a pay rate at 75% of the daily salary.
However, there is a habit of buying and selling these certificates at certain drugstores in the south.
The sellers of such certificates were usually very curious about their clients place of employment, as well as their insurance. These factors would actually determine the price of the certificate requested.
In the town of Di An in Binh Duong Province, Tam, a staff member of a drugstore said that she sells these types of certificates at a rat of VND30,000 (USD1.42) for the three-day sick leave. These will even include the signature of a doctor from Hoan Hao Hospital. She added that customers know the establishment as a place to come for fake sick-leave documents.
Losses for businesses and insurance agencies
Bui Huu Phong, Director of Binh Duong Social Insurance, said that they started circulation of new social insurance cards. which are very difficult to forge. However, he admitted that fake certificates could be hard to detect in other localities.
Pham Van Tu, General Director of Hoan Hao Hospital, said that he has sent staff to these drugstores to confront the problem, but they were faced with threats.
The Ho Chi Minh City Social Insurance has recently seized 300 fake certificates for sick leave. They, in turn, informed the employers of the clients that the certificates were fake.
Director of the municipal Social Insurance, Cao Van Sang, said that these false documents lead to losses for insurance agencies, as well as a loss in productivity for companies.
Also, there have been many reports from human resource managers of workers taking off, en masse, to to "illnesses", affecting the productivity of entire organisations.
