Return to work after illness

When an employee who has been absent for a certain period returns to work, he needs to complete a check-up visit with the Labor doctor (Médecin du travail). This special check-up, called “visite médicale de reprise”, has to be organized by the employer. The check-up visit needs to take place before the employee returns to work or at the latest within 8 days after his return.

The period after which the employer must organize a “visite médicale de reprise” depends on the reason of absence of the employee.

As of 1^st April 2022, those periods are the following:

• When an employee is absent because of a non-occupational illness: the visite de reprise is mandatory after an absence of at least 60 consecutive days;
• When an employee is absent because of an occupational illness, the check-up is required if the employee has been absent at least 8 consecutive days;
• When an employee is absent because of an accident at work, if the employee is absent for at least 30 consecutive days;When an employee returns from maternity leave, the visite de
• reprise is always mandatory.

The médecin du travail will determine if the employee is fit to come back to work, unfit or fit under certain conditions. In the last two cases, if the employee is unfit or fit under certain conditions, the employer needs to do his utmost to find (another) position within the company for which the employee would be fit. If this is not possible, the employer may proceed to his dismissal.