New reintegration rules in case of incapacity for work. Are you ready?
Legislation regarding long-term sick employees is evolving rapidly and introduces new rules and obligations for employers. In this article, you will find an overview of the key changes and practical guidance for a compliant absence policy.
Contact procedure
Since 1 January 2026, every work regulations document must include a procedure for contacting employees who are incapacitated for work. This contact procedure must at least specify the contact person and the frequency of contact moments.
You can determine yourself who the most appropriate person is (manager, colleague, HR, etc.) and how this contact takes place. Multiple contact persons may be designated or a cascade system may be provided.
Note that the contact procedure must be included in the work regulations. A collective bargaining agreement or policy is not sufficient. Updating the work regulations is therefore essential. It is important to follow the full amendment procedure, possibly with the involvement of the works council.
Absence policy
The law stipulates that the contact procedure in the work regulations forms part of an active absence policy. The development of such a policy is therefore necessary.
When developing an active absence policy, you must take into account recent legislative changes. For example, employees can proactively request an adjustment to their work or workstation to prevent an imminent incapacity for work. The employer has an obligation to inform the employee as soon as possible about whether such adjustments are available. If no adapted work is possible, the employer must properly justify this.
In addition, the exemption from a medical certificate for the first day of illness has been further limited from three to two days per calendar year. This is a minimum standard: more ‘sick days without certificate’ may be granted at company level. Companies with fewer than 50 employees may choose not to allow sick days without a medical certificate, provided this is stipulated in a collective bargaining agreement or the work regulations.
The rules regarding guaranteed salary have also been amended. After a period of illness, an employee must have returned to work for at least eight weeks (instead of 14 calendar days) to be entitled to full guaranteed salary in case of relapse.
For an employee who resumes work part-time and becomes ill again, the employer is no longer required to pay guaranteed salary during the entire period of partial work resumption (instead of the previous limitation of 20 weeks).
Employers with more than 50 employees must, since 1 January 2026, pay a quarterly solidarity contribution of 30% of the sickness benefit for the second and third month of illness for employees aged between 18 and 54 who have been incapacitated for more than 30 days.
Return to work: know your rights and obligations as an employer
The government strongly promotes reintegration. Since 1 January 2026, employers can also request the occupational physician to invite the employee for a consultation prior to returning to work (previously this was only possible at the employee’s request). However, the employee is not obliged to comply.
In addition, employers can initiate a reintegration process from the very start of the incapacity for work (previously a waiting period of three months of uninterrupted incapacity applied), provided that the employee agrees.
This consent is not required when the occupational physician has established that the employee has work potential. Whether work potential exists can only be assessed after at least eight weeks of incapacity for work. Employers are legally required to have the work potential of the employee assessed by the occupational physician or their nursing staff after eight weeks.
If the occupational physician determines that there is indeed work potential, the employer can initiate a reintegration process without the employee’s consent.
Employers with 20 or more employees are even required to initiate a reintegration process within six months from the start of the incapacity for work when the employee has work potential according to the occupational physician, failing which a level 2 sanction may be imposed. This obligation only applies to incapacities for work starting from 1 January 2026.
Employees who do not respond to invitations from the occupational physician in the context of a reintegration process risk losing (part of) their sickness benefits.
If a long-term sick employee resumes work progressively with the approval of the health insurance fund, the employer may be entitled to a reintegration premium of 1,725 euros.
If it is definitively impossible for the employee to resume the agreed work, the medical force majeure procedure can be initiated more quickly. The waiting period of nine months of uninterrupted incapacity has been reduced to six months.
Coordination of HR processes
Recent legislative changes impact existing HR processes in relation to sickness, but also in other areas. It is important to align all relevant internal documents and procedures. Consider, for example, the data you collect as part of the contact procedure and the extent to which you are allowed to process it in light of privacy legislation.
Therefore, prepare strategically and take action as soon as possible to avoid sanctions and improve the compliance of your HR processes.
Do you have any questions following this newsletter? Feel free to contact our HR Legal experts. We are happy to assist you further.
