Use a reintegration policy to help your employees resume work after an illness
Resuming work after a (long) period of illness? That is a big step for many employees. A good reintegration policy can help them in going back to work. We support and accompany you as an employer in developing a sustainable reintegration policy. Work promotes recovery, after all.
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What is a reintegration policy?
A reintegration policy sets out how you organise the return to work of employees after a (long-term) illness. In an achievable and respectful way. Has your policy been thought through? Besides supporting your employees’ wellbeing, this will also improve your organisation’s productivity.
Since the end of 2022, employers have been legally required to define a collective reintegration policy with clear provisions on the following:
- reintegration after long-term sickness absence
- a collective framework for adapted work
- annual evaluation of the reintegration processes implemented
Your reintegration policy should be part of a broader active attendance policy.
Why is a reintegration policy important?
The longer an employee is absent due to illness, the harder it is for that person to return to work. Sometimes, employees are unable to work for a long time. If they cannot rely on receiving appropriate support, the risk of a relapse moreover 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 585,000 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 wish to be back at work.
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Legislation emphasises shared responsibility in the case of long-term incapacity for work
The federal government places the shared responsibility for long-term incapacity for work on all parties 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 failure
- tertiary prevention to facilitate a smooth 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 on which employees can rely. It should also take the employee’s medical condition and personal circumstances into account.
Several parties have a role to play in a reintegration process. Those parties include you, as the employer, the employee, the 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, in a step-by-step process.
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As the employer, how do you initiate a reintegration process?
A reintegration process may be informal or formal. In an informal process, you as the employer may request a visit for your employee at any time during the period of incapacity for work prior to resumption of work. The employee is not obliged to respond.
A formal 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 employer, you may initiate a reintegration process if your employee agrees to it or if the assessment of the labour potential indicates that your employee has labour potential. Employees may also submit a request themselves, either on their own behalf or together with their attending physician. This may 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 (by registered post) for a reintegration assessment? Please note that the health insurance fund’s consulting physician must be informed of this by the occupational doctor after two absences and that the process is closed after three invitations.
Step 2: Reintegration assessment
Your employee will be invited by registered post to the 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 the original work. Alternatively, adapted or other work may be indicated.
The occupational doctor may make one of the following decisions:
- Decision A: The employee may 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 time frame.
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
On the basis of the consultation, you, as the employer, draw up a reintegration plan with:
- adjustments to the workplace
- adjustments to tasks, workload or working hours
- any training or guidance on new tasks, if applicable
- the validity period of the plan
Keep account of these timelines
- 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. If the employee does not respond within this period, send a new invitation. If the employee fails to respond once more, the employee is assumed to have rejected the plan. The plan is then sent to the employee and to the prevention advisor – occupational health doctor. It is also available to supervisory officials.
Are you, as the employer, unable to comply with the prevention advisor – occupational health doctor’s suggestions, due to practical or technical barriers for example? In that case, you must prepare a report with a sufficiently thorough explanation as to why the proposed adjustments are not possible. You must provide this report to your employee, but their signature is not required. The report is also sent to the prevention advisor-occupational doctor. It is also available to the supervisory officials.
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.
If your employee is permanently unfit for the agreed work and the process does not lead to an accepted plan based on the conditions and modalities determined by the prevention advisor-occupational doctor? Then the latter will then refer your employee to the competent service or institution of the Regions and Communities for guidance in the context of reintegration.
How do you ensure a successful return to work?
1. Encourage your employee to request adapted work in good time
From the beginning of 2026, an employee who threatens to be absent due to health problems may ask you to check whether an adjustment of the workstation and/or adapted or other work is possible. You can seek advice from your prevention advisor – occupational health doctor or other prevention advisors. Always inform your employee as soon as possible about the consequences of responding to that question or about the fact that you are unable to respond to the question.
2. Communicate with your employee quickly and correctly
- Ensure your employee’s engagement. Get in touch with your employee in good tiime. From the beginning of 2026, you are also legally required to do so. The procedure for this contact - who contacts whom and how often - must be included in your company policy. 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. Share only necessary information.
Tip: dialogue works
As the employer, it is important for you to assess the situation with care and take into account the employee’s situation. Broach the topic and explore better solutions for your employee’s capabilities and needs.
3. 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 the 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. Do you adapt communications to fit the situation? That prevents annoyance and gossip.
4. Keep the occupational doctor involved
An occupational doctor is not a medical officer, but rather an indispensable specialist. Encourage employees to contact their occupational doctor themselves. That way, they will get the support they need.
An employee may request an appointment with the occupational doctor on their own initiative during a period of incapacity to work, regardless of whether they are 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 may contact the occupational doctor directly or ask you to do so for them. Since 2026, you have also been able to take the initiative to schedule an appointment for your employee with the occupational doctor. Your employee is not obliged to comply with the invitation from the occupational doctor. If the employee does not do so, the occupational doctor will inform you.
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.
5. Establish a proactive attendance policy
Do not limit your attendance policy to issuing guidelines only. 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.
6. 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 works on the reintegration of employees after long-term sick leave by setting up programmes for early support and addressing collective issues.
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 analyse your organisation’s needs and specific context and work with you to develop a suitable reintegration policy. - guidance during reintegration processes
We 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. - contact and follow-up
We provide advice on contact and follow-up during long-term incapacity for work. - Information and training
We offer a comprehensive selection of training courses and webinars to teach your HR teams and managers about what reintegration involves. - Would you like to learn more? Our brochure explains all the steps of the reintegration process. Download the brochure here
Why choose IDEWE?
- Tailored reintegration - At IDEWE, we understand that every reintegration process is unique. We develop a policy that meets your organisation’s specific needs and ensure a personal approach to facilitate a successful return.
- Specialised support at every step - From intake to follow-up, IDEWE provides guidance at every stage of the reintegration process. Our experts offer you targeted solutions for a sustainable recovery and smooth return to work.
- Preventive approach – We believe 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.