Use a reintegration policy to help your employees resume work after an illness

Being back at work again after a long period of illness is a big step for many employees. A good reintegration policy can support them in going back to work. As an employer, we will guide you through the development of a sustainable reintegration process. Work promotes recovery, after all.

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What is a reintegration policy?

A reintegration policy sets out the arrangements for employees’ return to work after (long-term) illness. These arrangements should be both achievable and respectful. Is your policy carefully considered? Besides supporting your employees’ wellbeing, this will also improve your organisation’s productivity.

Employers are legally required to define a reintegration policy with clear provisions for the following:

  • Reintegration after long-term sickness absence
  • A collective framework for adapted work
  • Annual reviews of implemented reintegration processes

Your reintegration policy should be part of a broader attendance policy.

Why is a reintegration policy important?

Sometimes, employees are unable to work for a long time. If they cannot rely on receiving appropriate support, the risk of a relapse increases. A proper reintegration policy minimises this risk. 

As the employer, this is how you retain talent, lower the threshold for a successful return to work and avoid prolonged sickness absences.

  • There are currently around 500,000 people on long-term sick leave in Belgium. 
    These are employees who have been unfit for work for over a year.
  • 80% of people on long-term sick leave want to be back at work.

Want to design a well-considered reintegration policy?
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Government agreement emphasises shared responsibility for long-term incapacity for work

The federal government’s February 2025 agreement highlighted the fact that long-term incapacity for work is a shared responsibility of everyone involved. Employees, employers, doctors, health insurance funds and regional employment services all have roles to play.

An effective approach relies on three key elements:

  • Primary prevention to prevent illness
  • Secondary prevention to avoid absence
  • Tertiary prevention to facilitate reintegration

What is a reintegration process?

The reintegration process is part of your organisation’s broader reintegration policy. A reintegration process supports your employees in going back to work after a long period of incapacity due to illness or an accident. 

The aim is to ensure a safe, gradual and achievable return to work, with a clear roadmap employees can rely on. It should also take the employee’s medical condition and personal circumstances into account. 

A reintegration process involves multiple parties. Those parties include you as the employer, your employee, your occupational doctor and possibly the health insurance fund’s consulting physician. Together, you are all working toward the employee’s sustainable reintegration after long-term sick leave, step by step.

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How do you initiate a reintegration process as the employer?

The reintegration process consists of five steps. Your My IDEWE Professional customer area provides a clear visualisation of this process.

Step 1: Requesting a reintegration process

As the employer, you can initiate a reintegration process as soon as an employee hasn’t been able to work for more than three months or you have a certificate attesting to their ‘permanent incapacity for work’. Employees can also submit a request themselves, either on their own behalf or together with their attending physician. This can be done at any time during their incapacity.

  • Complete the ‘Reintegration Process Request – Employer’ form and send it to your regional IDEWE office by post.
  • Has your employee failed to respond to their invitation for a reintegration assessment? Note that after three invitations, the process will be stopped.

Step 2: Reintegration assessment

Your employee pays a visit to your prevention advisor – occupational health doctor for a reintegration assessment. 

Within 49 calendar days of receiving the request, the occupational doctor issues an opinion on your employee’s ability to resume their original work. Alternatively, adapted or other work may be indicated.

There are several decisions the occupational doctor can make:

  • Decision A: The employee should be fit to resume work eventually, possibly after a period of adapted or other work.
  • Decision B: The employee is permanently unfit for the original work, but may do other or adapted work instead.
  • Decision C: A reintegration process is not feasible at this time. You will need to wait at least three months to initiate a new process, unless the occupational doctor believes there is good reason to deviate from this timeframe.

Step 3: Consultation

After the occupational doctor has assessed your employee’s fitness to do other or adapted work temporarily (decision A) or permanently (decision B), a consultation follows between the employee, you as the employer and the prevention advisor – occupational health doctor. During this consultation, you discuss the options for your employee’s return and decide on specific adjustments or conditions.

Step 4: Drawing up a reintegration plan or report

As the employer, you then draw up a reintegration plan based on the consultation. This plan must include:

  • Adjustments to the workplace
  • Adjustments to tasks, workload or working hours
  • Training or guidance on new tasks, if applicable
  • The validity period of the plan

Be aware that the following timelines apply:

  • For decision A, a reintegration plan must be drawn up within 63 calendar days of the reintegration assessment.
  • For decision B, this must be done within six months.
  • The employee has 14 days to sign the plan in acceptance. If they do not respond within this period, send a new invitation. If the employee fails to respond once more, they are assumed to have rejected the plan. 

Are you unable to comply with the prevention advisor – occupational health doctor’s suggestions as an employer, due to practical or technical barriers for example? In that case, you must prepare a report with a sufficiently thorough explanation of why the proposed adjustments will not be possible. You must provide this report to your employee, but their signature is not required.

Step 5: Implementation and monitoring of the reintegration process

Has the reintegration plan been approved? Now the time has come to implement it. The prevention advisor – occupational health doctor will continue to monitor the employee’s condition and provide support throughout the process. The employee can always request a consultation with the occupational doctor if they find adjustments are needed.

How do you ensure a successful return to work?

1. Communicate with your employee quickly and correctly

  • Ensure your employee’s engagement. Stay in touch with your employee from the beginning of their absence. This is how you ensure an engaged, supportive atmosphere.
  • Assume good intentions. Realise that most people on long-term leave want to return to work, but may be scared to do so. Help them regain that confidence.
  • Find the right balance between transparency and privacy. Communicate with empathy and respect your employee’s privacy. Let their wishes determine how you communicate. Only share necessary information. 

Tip: Dialogue works

As the employer, it is important for you to assess the situation with care and consider your employee’s condition. Broach the topic and explore better solutions for your employee’s capabilities and needs.
 

2. Pay attention to your team

  • Explain how the return to work will go. Take a positive, transparent approach to your employee’s return. Make sure your team understands why reintegration is important, without going into unnecessary detail.
  • Keep an eye on the effects on work pressure. Be mindful of the impact of sickness absence and a partial return on work pressure. Adapt your communications to fit the circumstances. That prevents annoyance and gossip.

3. Keep the occupational doctor involved

An occupational doctor is not a watchdog, but an indispensable specialist. Encourage employees to reach out to the occupational doctor themselves. That way, they will get the support they need.

An employee can request an appointment with the occupational doctor on their own initiative during a period of incapacity to work, regardless of whether they are being exposed to health risks. This allows them to discuss any adjustments to their workstation or working conditions that could support a return to work.

As an employer, you are required to inform your employees of this procedure. Your employee can contact the occupational doctor directly or ask you to do so for them.

Note: The occupational doctor will not express an opinion regarding the employee’s incapacity during this consultation. All they will do is suggest ways to make your employee’s workplace more suited to their condition.

4. Establish a proactive attendance policy

Don’t limit your attendance policy to the provision of guidelines. Also work to improve awareness of sickness absence and the usefulness of a partial return to work. This makes absent employees more aware of the advantages of staying in contact and less resentful.

5. Make use of your Social-Medical Team (SMT)

A Social-Medical Team (SMT) provides larger organisations with an effective consultation framework for a structural approach to sickness absence. The team will work on the reintegration of employees after long-term sick leave by setting up programmes for early support and addressing collective issues. 

What tools are there to support reintegration?

How does IDEWE help you as the employer?

Our experts ensure that your reintegration efforts are followed up on. They will serve as a sounding board for all your concerns. They can help you with:

  • An attendance and reintegration policy tailored to your organisation
    We will analyse your organisation’s needs and specific context and work with you to develop a suitable reintegration policy.
  • Guidance during reintegration processes
    We’ll guide you through every step of the process. You can rely on our expertise to help you find the right measures for every employee, from initiating a personalised process to implementing adjustments.
  • Information and training
    We offer a comprehensive selection of training courses and webinars to teach your HR teams and managers about what reintegration involves.

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Why choose IDEWE?

  • Customisation in reintegration. IDEWE understands that every reintegration process is unique. We will develop a policy that meets your organisation’s specific needs and ensure a personal approach to facilitate a successful return.
  • Specialised guidance, every step of the way. From initial assessment to follow-up, IDEWE can guide you through every stage of the reintegration process. Our experts offer you targeted solutions to facilitate a sustainable recovery and smooth return to work.
  • Preventive approach. We believe that prevention is better than cure. IDEWE offers proactive support to prevent downtime and ensure that your team is well prepared for returns to work and long-term absences.