Incapacity for work during annual leave as of 2024 – modalities
08 Aug 2023
In our newsletter of 24 March 2023, we reported on the upcoming changes to the Belgian regulations on annual leave, which will enter into force on 1 January 2024. The most notable of these changes is the fact that, if an employee gets sick during a period of annual leave, these sickness days will not be charged to their annual leave balance. In other words, they’ll still be able to take up the days of leave they couldn’t benefit from due to illness at another time instead of losing out on these vacation days, as is currently still the case.
To safeguard these days of annual leave, the employee will be required to duly inform their employer of their sickness and deliver a medical certificate. A recent act, which adjusts the employment agreements act and the work regulations act, specifies the modalities of these employee requirements.
Information to be provided by the employee
As a general rule, if an employee gets sick, they’re required to immediately let their employer know. The same will continue to hold true if an employee gets sick during a period of annual leave, however, in such a case, the employee must also immediately let their employer know where they’re staying at, if this differs from their normal place of residence.
In addition, the employee will always have to provide the employer with a medical certificate, even if the exemption from providing a medical certificate for the first day of incapacity for work – three times per year – would theoretically apply. The certificate must be delivered within the timeframe applicable in the company, however, in case of force majeure (e.g. the employee is admitted to the hospital), the employee has to send the medical certificate within a reasonable timeframe.
By complying with these formalities, the employee will be entitled to guaranteed pay during the days of illness and will be able to take up the affected days of annual leave at a later stage. Although the ongoing period of annual leave is not automatically extended with the number of concurrent days of illness, there is a possibility to do so. If the employee wants to take up the safeguarded days of leave immediately after the end of their incapacity for work (thus in essence extending the scheduled period of leave), they’ll have to address a request to the employer to this end, at the latest when they deliver the medical certificate.
Note that a Royal Decree with an optional template of medical certificate for the situation of concurrence of days of annual leave with sickness days is currently in the works.
Updating the work regulations
Companies will have to include the specific formalities that an employee has to comply with in case of incapacity for work during a period of annual leave in their work regulations. They can, however, do so without having to go through the formal, burdensome procedure of modifying work regulations.
Entry into force
The new principles on concurrence between annual leave and incapacity for work, including the formalities an employee will have to comply with to retain their full entitlement to annual leave, will enter into force on 1 January 2024. Companies must make sure that they include these formalities in their work regulations as of said date.
If you have any questions with respect to these changes to the legislation on annual leave or are looking for assistance with the necessary update of your work regulations, don’t hesitate to reach out; we’d love to hear from you!
