N-VA wants employers to be allowed once again to require a medical certificate from the first day of sickness absence, but the proposal appears to lack full support within the coalition.
Since 2022, employees at companies with at least 50 staff have been allowed to take up to three single days of sick leave a year without providing a doctor’s note.
N-VA, which was then in opposition, warned at the time that the rule could be abused. The party says those concerns have now been borne out by figures from HR services provider Securex, whose 2024 analysis found a marked rise in one-day absences.
The number of days that can be taken without a certificate was reduced this year from three to two, but N-VA says that does not go far enough.
In a bill introduced on Wednesday in the House Social Affairs Committee, N-VA parliamentary group leader Axel Ronse argued that workers who want to misuse sick leave can simply take a “duvet day” without even having to visit their GP.
He said employers currently have little power to act in such cases and should therefore be able to require a medical certificate again from the first day of absence, either for all staff or for part of the workforce.
Ronse says the measure should form part of a broader absenteeism policy. Under his proposal, employers would not be able to demand a certificate at will, but would first have to draw up an absence plan tailored to the company and aimed at preventing short-term sickness absence.
The bill does not set out strict legal rules for such a plan. It does, however, allow employers to invite workers who have been absent for a short period at least three times in 12 months to a mandatory absence meeting.
If an employee fails to attend that meeting, the proposal would even allow the employer to withhold pay.
“Being ill is not the problem. That can happen to any of us,” Ronse said. “But when short absences keep recurring, an employer must be able to find out what is going on, not to punish sick workers, but to detect problems in time and, where possible, prevent absence.”
It is unclear whether the bill, in its current form, can secure a parliamentary majority. Several coalition partners have indicated they are not enthusiastic about the plans.
According to two MPs, the proposal has not been discussed within the governing majority. The committee has requested a series of opinions on the bill, meaning it is likely to disappear from the agenda for at least several months.
Employers’ organisation Voka has fully backed the proposal. Its chief executive, Frank Beckx, said legally encouraging “duvet days” was not the way to get more people back into work and that the current system should never have been introduced.
