No more sick notes?
Since 28 November 2022, as an employer, you can no longer request a medical certificate every time your employee is sick. Your employee does not need to provide a certificate if they are sick for one day or for the first day of sickness in a longer period of illness. Starting in 2026, your employee can use this option up to two times a year.
Your employee must still inform you about their illness. As an employer, you can also have a monitoring doctor check the work incapacity of your employee on that day. To help with this check, your employee must tell you the address where they are staying. They do not need to provide this address if they are at their known residence with you.
But an exception for smaller companies
Companies that employ fewer than 50 employees on 1 January of a year can still request a medical certificate for each day of sickness. You must include this option in your labour regulation or in a company collective agreement.
To determine if your company has fewer than 50 employees, you should consider the number of employees within the legal entity on 1 January of that year. You do not need to consider the number of employees at the level of the technical business unit.
What should you check on 1 January 2026?
If your company has fewer than 50 employees and you have included the exception in your labour regulation, you need to check if you still have fewer than 50 employees on 1 January 2026. If you introduced the exception through a company collective agreement, you must perform the same check.
If you have fewer than 50 employees on that day, you can continue to use the exception in 2026. Your employees must still provide a medical certificate for each day of sickness.
If you have at least 50 employees on that day, you can no longer use the exception in 2026. Your employees will not need to provide a certificate for a one-day illness or for the first day of sickness in a longer period of illness. This applies up to two times a year.
If you use Securex models for your labour regulation or your company collective agreement, the exception will automatically apply again if you have fewer than 50 employees in the future.
What does Securex do for you?
If you have any questions about the sick certificate or want to include the exception option in your labour regulation or a company collective agreement, you can contact your Securex Legal Advisor at myHR@Securex.be.
Be sure to follow our training on "how to draft a labour regulation". You can register here .
If you are a client of Securex, you can also visit our client portal. You can find answers to various questions on our online portal MySecurex. In the search function 'MySupport', we have gathered the most frequently asked questions and answers. This way, you can get help quickly, even outside office hours.
Source
- Law of 30 October 2022 containing various provisions regarding work incapacity (1), the Moniteur belge of 18 November 2022