A growing number of employees in our region are reporting sick while they are on annual leave. This is forcing small and medium-sized businesses to rearrange work schedules and reschedule leave. A new survey by HR service provider SD Worx says that 6% of the employees of small and medium-sized businesses in Flanders report sick while on vacation. This is twice the rate among employees of small and medium-sized businesses in the Brussels-Capital Region. They are ill for an average of 5 days. This is annual leave that then has to be taken later in the year.
In 2024 a new law came into force that stipulates that employees that become sick during their vacation can reclaim the days that they were ill and take them as annual leave at a later date. In order to do so they must report their illness immediately, submit a valid medical certificate and inform their employer if they are staying at a different address. The vacation days are then reclassified as sick leave, and the employee can take these days off at a later date.
Anneleen Verstraeten is a small and medium-sized business expert at SD Worx. She told the press agency Belga that “The measure ensures that vacation remains true rest time. But it also requires clear agreements between employers and staff to keep the administrative side manageable.”
A varied picture
523 small and medium-sized businesses across Belgium took part in the survey that was conducted last month. One in three of the companies surveyed in Flanders said that it had already encountered employees falling ill during their vacation. This is up from 1 in 5 a year ago.
The phenomenon is particularly pronounced among companies employing primarily manual workers, with 47% reporting at least one such case this year. Among firms with mainly office staff, the figure is lower, at 27%. Among small and medium-sized businesses that employ both white and blue collar staff the rate is 36%.
The size of the company is also a contributing factor. While only about a quarter of the smallest businesses having had an employee report sick while on vacation, the proportion rises to more than seven in ten for firms with more than 50 employees.
Impact on workforce planning
Illness during vacation leave has an impact on planning and staffing levels. On average, employees that have fallen ill during their annual leave recover five vacation days to be taken later. The figure is higher (8 days on average) among manual workers, compared with office staff (4 days). All recovered days must be scheduled before the end of the year, which can cause issues, especially in smaller teams.
Despite the upward trend, the median figure remains zero. This means that more than half of small and medium-sized businesses in Flanders say that none of their staff reported sick during their holidays.