Can the employer pre-emptively break the terms of employment of an employee who has been declared unfit?

Verified 15 September 2023 - Directorate for Legal and Administrative Information (Prime Minister)

If the employee is found unfit by the occupational doctor as a result of an accident or illness, the employer may, under certain conditions, terminate CSD: titleContent early. Reclassification must not be possible and the medical opinion must indicate unfitness.

Warning  

Incompetence must be established by the company's occupational physician and not by the treating physician of the employee.

Provided that incapacity is recognized by the occupational doctor, the employer shall search for the possibilities of reclassify the employee. It must examine the existing posts in the company that could be adapted to its abilities and propose to him.

However, the employer is exempted from seeking a reclassification position if the notice of incompetence mentions any of the following:

  • Retention in employment could seriously damage the health of the employee
  • His state of health makes it impossible to reclassify him into a job

On 1er The employee is not paid during the month following the notice of unfitness of the occupational physician and during which the employer seeks a reclassification solution.

If, at the end of this one-month period, the employee is not reclassified, the employer may terminate the CDD in accordance with the dismissal procedure (call for pre-interview, dismissal letter).

The employer must then resume payment of the salary corresponding to the employment which the employee occupied before the incapacity, until the dismissal.

When the CDD is terminated, the employee is entitled to severance pay. Its amount shall be at least equal to:

  • to that of statutory severance pay or the compensation provided for in the collective agreement if it is more favorable to him
  • or twice the severance pay where the incapacity is of occupational origin.

In the case of less than one year's service, the amount of the allowance shall be calculated proportionally the duration of employment.

The Precarious Compensation is paid to the employee.

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