by Katarzyna Krzysiek
Medical certificate no longer required for first day off work: how does this affect your company?
Last week, the authorities published a new law containing various provisions on incapacity for work. Among other things, the law stipulates that up to three times per calendar year, employees are not obliged to present a medical certificate for their first day of incapacity for work. This article briefly explains to what extent this law is applicable to all companies and how a company may deviate.
What does the new law involve?
The new law goes into effect on 28 November 2022. This means that as of next week, your employees are no longer obliged to present a medical certificate for their first day off work. For every additional day off, a certificate is still mandatory. This entitlement is limited and employees can only make use of it three times per calendar year. Furthermore, they remain obliged to report their absence on that day in a timely fashion. Also, employers can always have an examining doctor (controlearts/médecin-contrôleur) check their incapacity.
Does this rule apply to your specific company?
While in principle, the new legislation applies to all companies, one exception does exist. As the impact of an employee who is not fit for work is greater at a smaller company, the authorities allow such companies the option to deviate from this rule. The new law defines a small company as a company that has fewer than 50 employees on 1 January of the calendar year in which the incapacity for work occurs.
Do you qualify as small by this definition? In that case, you have the option to deviate from the rule. This may be done by means of a clause in your employee handbook which explicitly sets out the deviation from the new legislation. Alternatively, you can include the deviation in a company CLA.
What if you come to have more than 50 employees?
Eligibility to apply the exception is based on the number of employees on 1 January of the relevant year. In other words, even if you come to have more than 50 employees in the course of the year, the rule remains in effect as long as there were fewer than 50 on 1 January. Your situation will be re-assessed on 1 January of the following year. If there are still more than 50 employees, the clause in your employee handbook or company CLA will be rendered invalid automatically. That means there is no need for you to adapt the handbook or CLA again.
Vandelanotte Payroll is here to help. Do you have any questions or a wish to deviate from this rule? Please contact one of our experts!
Katarzyna Krzysiek
Advisor Payroll katarzyna.krzysiek@vdl.be
Disclaimer
In our opinions, we rely on current legislation, interpretations and legal doctrine. This does not prevent the administration from disputing them or from changing existing interpretations.
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