If your employee is off sick, in most cases a sick note is mandatory. But what do you do when you are presented with a fake or invalid copy? Thankfully, there are a number of elements you can look out for. For one thing, a sick note is required to specify various important pieces of information. Let's list the various elements for you.
Short-term absenteeism, where employees are absent for less than a week by reason of sickness, appears to be falling and is approximately 0.2% less compared to 2022. Since late 2022, employees are allowed to be absent from work for one day by reason of sickness three times a year without having to provide a sick note. However, companies with fewer than 50 employees may derogate from this rule. Outside of this exemption scheme, the rule remains: those who are sick must enter a sick note if so required under a collective bargaining agreement or by employee handbook, or if you ask for a sick note as an employer. Exactly which details is a sick note required to state? First of all, the sick note must be signed by a doctor, stating the doctor's identity details: his/her surname, first name and RIZIV number.
Additional information in the sick note may be required under a collective bargaining agreement or your employee handbook, such as:
If the mandatory information is not specified in the sick note, you are free to disregard the sick note as an employer. In that case, your employee is in breach of regulations, and you may deny him/her guaranteed pay until he/she provides you with a valid sick note. Speak to your employee about this, and explain his/her obligations.
In addition, you are free to impose one of the sanctions on your employee set out in your employee handbook. For repeated offences, you may even consider dismissal for cause. However, be careful when sacking your employee for due cause: for one thing, you need to make sure beforehand that you have sufficient evidence of the wrongdoing you wish to invoke as due cause. You also need to be able to prove that your employee's wrongdoing makes it definitively impossible with immediate effect to continue the employer-employee relationship.
In that case, the sick note does not corroborate your employee's incapacity for work, and there is no entitlement to guaranteed pay. This is a case of unauthorised absence from work by your employee. You can take action against this with a sanction from the employee handbook, or even by dismissing the employee for due cause. Incidentally, forgery of records is a criminal offence against which you can take further action. Just make sure you have sufficient evidence, and seek legal advice.
If in doubt as to the authenticity of the signature on the sick note, you can contact the doctor, who can confirm or deny the authenticity of the sick note without revealing other health details of the patient.
The basic rule is that your employee has to submit the sick note within two working days from the day his/her incapacity starts. Saturday also counts as a working day.
The following nuances apply to this:
Is your employee late with his/her sick note? In that case you can deny your employee the right to guaranteed pay until you get a valid sick note.
If your employee reports in sick during his/her holidays, he/she is also required to provide you with a sick note. There is no exemption for the first day of incapacity for work (see above).
To report sickness during holidays, your employee can use a specific of sickness note template prepared by the government.
If specific information is required under a collective bargaining agreement or your employee handbook (see above), your employee must provide such information.
The consequence of sickness during holidays, since 2024, is that the overlapping days are not considered holidays, and may therefore be taken at a later date.
Want to get a (better) idea of your company’s sickness absence and guide and encourage your employees the right way? Find out more about the importance of mental and physical welfare in the workplace. Our experts are ready to inform, advise and support you.
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