The abolition of the requirement to provide a sick note for one day's absence has not resulted in federal civil servants taking more sick leave. Since the requirement was scrapped federal civil servants have in fact been taking fewer days off through illness. Although they are reporting sick more often, the total number of sick days taken by those working within the Federal Civil Service has in fact declined. In the light of this, the Federal Minister responsible for the Civil Service Petra De Sutter (Flemish green) hopes to increase the period for which no sicknote is required to three days.
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Scraping of the requirement to provide a sicknote for 1 day’s absence has not led to more sick leave within the Civil Service
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Under measures that came into force last year civil servants and employees of large companies no longer have to submit a sick note if they are absent from work due to illness for just one day. They can do this on no more than three occasions per calendar year. The rule came into force at the end of last year and figures from the first half of this year show that the number of sick days taken by federal government employees has fallen since the introduction of the new rules.
The Federal Minister responsible for the Civil Service Petra De Sutter told VRT News that "If we compare the first half of 2023 with the first half of 2022, we see that total absence due to illness for for less than one month has decreased from 7.3% 6.95% and this is good news”.
Since the new scheme was introduced, slightly more civil servants have reported sick for one day than during the same period last year (4.8% compared with 3.6%).
3 days sick leave without a sicknote?
Ms De Sutter and the Federal Health Minister Frank Vandenbroucke (Flemish socialist) are both in favour of scrapping the requirement to provide a sicknote for periods of sick leave of no more than three days. The new figures on absence due to illness among civil servants appear to back the logic behind their proposal.
Petra De Sutter told VRT News that "If you abolish the requirement to provide sicknote for short periods, people are off work for less time. They feel better after 1 or 2 days and come back to work, while doctors often edge on the side of caution and give them a sicknote for a longer period. It also good that people stay away from work for a short period of time if they are ill because this way they infect fewer other people.”
The scrapping of the requirement to provide a sicknote for absences of 1 day was brought in to lighten the workload of GPs. In addition to lightening GPs workload still further, scrapping the requirement to provide a sicknote for absences of no more than 3 days would also save the healthcare system money as the lion’s share of the bill when we visit the doctor is footed by the state.
The Flemish Employers’ Federation Voka is not in favour of the ministers’ proposal. Voka’s CEO Hans Maertens told VRT News that it should be up to employers and not the government to decide whether or not their staff need to provide a sicknote for short periods of absence.