Companies will have to deposit €1,800 into a fund for each employee they fire on health grounds. The proceeds will go into a fund designed to guide people back into work. The decision was made by the Federal Government during its budget talks, reported De Standaard.
There will also be a premium of €1,000 for employers who do manage to keep long-term sick employees working part-time within the company, if necessary in a completely new job.
"For each employment contract that is terminated due to medical force majeure, the employer will have to pay an amount of €1,800 into a fund," the office of Federal Health Minister Frank Vandenbroucke pointed out.
The proceeds will go into a 'back to work' fund from which dismissed incapacitated workers can receive support for specialised coaching or career guidance for at least €1,800.
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Today, companies were, in principle, already obliged to guide employees to a new job themselves after a medical dismissal. But in reality, this hardly brought any benefit.
The fund and the premium of €1,000 for employers who do keep the long-term sick on board are part of the plan to reduce the large number of long-term sick people in our country.
Minister Vandenbroucke also secured extra budget for the recruitment of twenty additional 'back to work' coordinators to guide the long-term sick into jobs. These come on top of the 60 coordinators who have been working since this year.
