There is a proposal for a government agreement to bring back the notion of long-term illness from work and the sanctions that go with it. This is according to a spokesperson for Health and Social Affairs Minister Maggie De Block, who spoke on Saturday.
On Saturday, Flemish papers De Tijd and De Standaard revealed it is a Federal government agreement. It aims to sanction companies that don’t do enough to get employees who are off sick long-term back to work as well as employees who don’t do enough themselves.
“A proposal for an agreement does exist. All the details have not been sorted out yet. The Minister’s council will discuss it next week”, Mrs De Block’s cabinet have said.
Companies found to be at fault face an 800 euro fine. A one year transition period has been discussed. Employees that don’t do enough to get back to work face losing 5-10% of their allocation every month.
The New Flemish Alliance was pleased on Saturday. “Thanks to this measure, we can deal with the large increase in long-term sickness more efficiently”, says MP Jan Spooren.
The government offering employees a reintegration process can only work if all the parties involved work together, the Nationalist Party says. Using the measure had until now been optional and the N-VA are happy that the government is changing that.
The Brussels Times
