The Constitutional Court ruled that the nonpayment of sickness benefit for the first day of temporary incapacity for work infringes employee’s rights. The Court pronounced on the issue following a challenge filed by ombudswoman Aurelia Grigoriu, Info-Prim Neo reports. “We decided to submit an application to Parliament, asking that it fills the gap in the legislation in due time now that the legislative amendments were declared unconstitutional,” the president of the Constitutional Court Alexandru Tanase said Tuesday. The chairman of the National Confederation of Trade Unions Oleg Budza said the first day of the sick leave will be paid to the employee from the social insurance budget, the next three days by the employer, while the other days also from the budget. “Justice is on the salary earners’ side. We struggled for better working conditions so that the employees do not suffer,” he stated. According to Oleg Budza from July 1, 2011 until January 1, 2012, the state did not pay over 10 million lei in sickness benefit to employees for the first day of the sick leave. This money will not be paid to the beneficiaries. Until July 2010, the sick leave was fully paid from the state social insurance funds. Last summer, Parliament adopted a legislative initiative put forward by the Government. Under it, the first day of the sick leave is paid by the employee, the second day by the employer and from the third day the allowance is paid from the budget. Since this January, the employers had to pay for three days of the employee’s sick leave instead of one. Thus, the sick pay was allocated from the state social insurance budget from the fifth day of the sick leave.