In previous blogs, we have mentioned how Belgium is high up in the ranks of countries with employees on long-term absence, and how our new(ish) government wants to tackle this national disease on different fronts.

The first chapter of this ambitious plan came into force on 1 January 2026. We have summarised the changes below, starting with the one that has a concrete call to action for employers:

1. Going forward, all employers will be required to keep in touch with employees who are absent from work due to incapacity. A specific procedure must be included in the employee handbook, which should specify at least the following: who will contact the employee who is unfit for work; and the frequency of such contact.

This “keeping in touch” procedure aims to facilitate and prepare for the employee’s return to work.

The employee handbook should be adjusted as soon as possible, but the social inspectorate will be lenient in the coming weeks, to allow employers to introduce these provisions.

2. Employees will have the ability to ask their employer to consider whether an adjustment to their workstation and/or adapted/alternative work is possible, not only during a period of sick leave, but also prior to that, if they are at risk of becoming incapacitated due to health problems.

Employers are not obliged to comply with this preventative request, but they must inform the employee of their decision as soon as possible.

3. With the consent of the employee, employers may (but are not obliged to) start a reintegration process from the first day of incapacity for work (whereas previously, a three-month waiting period of uninterrupted incapacity for the employee had to be observed).

4. Employers will be allowed to request that the prevention advisor/company doctor invites the employee for a visit prior to resuming work. Previously, only the employee could make such a request. Unfortunately, an employee is not obliged to accept this invitation.

5. Going forward, the focus will be on an employee’s “work potential”. After the employee has been absent from work for at least eight weeks, the employer will be required to have the company doctor assess the employee’s work potential, using a standardised method.

If this assessment shows that the incapacitated employee has the potential to work, the employer and the employee are informed of this, and if the employer has 20 or more employees, it is obliged to ask the company doctor to start a reintegration process, no later than six months after the start of the employee’s incapacity for work.

6. The period of uninterrupted incapacity for work required to initiate a procedure to terminate the employment contract on grounds of medical force majeure has been reduced from nine to six months.

These legislative changes are commendable, as they allow employers to play a slightly more active role in situations of longer-term absence, and to address such situations early on, which experts say is crucial in combatting long-term absences. The employee’s cooperation still plays an important role in the process and, while this is understandable, practice teaches us that this is not always in the employee’s best (longer term) interest. But all in all, this reform is certainly a step in the right direction.