One of the many objectives of the De Wever I government is to increase the employment rate and reduce the number of employees who are incapacitated for work on a long-term basis. The government aims to achieve this objective by focusing on a stronger policy of activation and reintegration of employees who are unfit for work.

In this context, the Act implementing a strengthened return-to-work policy in the event of incapacity for work, together with the related Royal Decree amending the Codex on Well-being at Work, was published in the Belgian Official Gazette on 30 December 2025. This new legislation applies as from 1 January 2026 and aims to establish a more proactive approach to the return to work of employees who are incapacitated for work, with clear responsibilities for the actors involved.

Below, we outline the key principles and points of attention of this legislation.

1. Inclusion of an active absence policy in the work regulations and amendments to the Codex on Well-being at Work 

Although employers were previously advised not to contact employees who were incapacitated for work, this has become a legal obligation as from 1 January 2026. This contact procedure must be fully set out and included in the work regulations.

The Royal Decree provides that the obligation to maintain contact is included under the new Article I.4-71/2 of the Codex on Well-being at Work and further specifies this obligation. It is explicitly stated that at least the following must be included in the work regulations:

• Who will contact the incapacitated employee (e.g. HR, direct supervisor, …);
• The frequency of the contact (e.g. an initial contact will take place within the first week following the start of the incapacity for work). 

Maintaining contact with an employee who is incapacitated for work is solely intended to support and carefully prepare the return to work. Contacting the employee must therefore not aim to assess whether the employee’s absence for health reasons is justified.

2. Exemption from medical certificate limited to two days per calendar year 

As from 1 January 2026, the possibility for employees to be absent up to three times per calendar year without a medical certificate (for the first day of absence) is limited to two times per calendar year.

Please note that companies with less than 50 employees may deviate from the above rule by explicitly including this deviation in the work regulations, requiring employees to justify every absence with a medical certificate.

3. Medical force majeure procedure possible after six months of uninterrupted incapacity for work 

Where an employee who is incapacitated for work is definitively no longer able to perform the agreed work and no adapted or other work is possible within the company, a procedure for termination due to medical force majeure may be initiated.

During this procedure, it is assessed whether reintegration is feasible. If this proves not to be the case, the employment agreement may be terminated due to medical force majeure, without severance pay being due and without a notice period having to be served.

As from 1 January 2026, the statutory period for initiating this procedure has been shortened: it may now be initiated after six months of uninterrupted incapacity for work, instead of after nine months. This means that the six-month period of incapacity for work also applies to employees who were already incapacitated for work before 1 January 2026.

4. Extension of the relapse period for guaranteed salary 

A relapse occurs when an employee becomes incapacitated for work again due to the same illness within a certain period after the end of a previous period of incapacity for work for which the employer paid guaranteed salary.

Under the former legislation, the employee was not entitled to guaranteed salary at the employer’s expense if the relapse occurred within fourteen calendar days after the end of the previous period of incapacity for work. As from 1 January 2026, this period has been extended: the former period of fourteen calendar days has been tripled to eight weeks.

In concrete terms, as from 1 January 2026, a relapse can only occur if an employee again becomes incapacitated for work and was already incapacitated for work due to the same illness less than eight weeks earlier.

Employees whose incapacity for work dates from before 1 January 2026 remain subject to the old rules, with a relapse period of fourteen calendar days.

5. Amendment to the Social Penal Code – failure to apply for a reintegration procedure 

An employer with twenty or more employees who fails to apply for a reintegration procedure with the prevention adviser–occupational physician within six months after the start of the incapacity for work for an employee who is incapacitated for work and has work potential, risks a sanction of level 2. This entails an administrative fine ranging from EUR 200 to EUR 2,000 or a criminal fine ranging from EUR 400 to EUR 4,000, multiplied by the number of employees concerned.

Please note that this new article in the Social Penal Code applies only to employees who become incapacitated for work as from 1 January 2026. As a result, this control provision will only have a real impact from the summer of 2026 onwards.