Are employees required to undergo a pre-employment medical examination?

Any person applying for a job is subject to a medical examination by the occupational physician prior to employment.

In addition to employees and apprentices, the pre-employment medical examination must be carried out on secondary and university students and on persons in training courses, if they are working in a high-risk position.

For employees working at night and for high-risk positions, the examination must be performed before hiring.

For other positions, the examination must be done within 2 months of hiring.

The time spent by employees during working hours on the medical examinations is considered as working time.

In case the medical examination for employment takes place after employment, the employment contract is conditional on the results of the examination.

Where employees have been determined unfit for the job they were hired for by an occupational physician, the resolutory condition is fulfilled, and the employment contract is terminated automatically.

What is the purpose of the pre-hiring medical examination?

The purpose of the pre-employment medical examination is to determine whether the applicant is fit or unfit for the intended occupation, i.e. whether or not he or she can perform the intended work without incurring health risks.

In what cases are employees subject to periodic medical examinations?

The following employees are required to undergo periodic medical examinations:

• under 21 years of age;
• those occupying an at-risk job;
• those for whom the occupational physician has deemed it worthwhile to carry out a normal medical examination at the time of recruitment;
• night workers.

The time spent by employees during working hours on periodic examinations is considered as working time.

Employees on internal or external redeployment must also undergo a periodic medical reassessment at least every two years.

The occupational physician may carry out other examinations in addition to those listed above if he considers it necessary because of the state of health of the persons concerned or their particular working conditions or because of health-related incidents that have occurred in the undertaking or at the request of the employer or the worker or at the request of the staff delegation.

What is an at-risk position?

The following are considered at-risk positions:

• any job which exposes employees to a risk of occupational disease, to a specific risk of occupational accident in the workplace itself, to physical or biological agents likely to harm their health, or to carcinogens;
• any workstation involving an activity which may seriously endanger the health and safety of other employees or third parties, and any workstation involving the control of an installation the failure of which may seriously endanger the health and safety of employees or third parties.

What if an employee has been declared fit for work?

If the employee has been declared fit for work, he or she can take up the position described in the employment contract.

What if an employee has been declared unfit for work?

If the employee has been declared unfit for work during the pre-recruitment medical examination, the employment contract will be terminated automatically. There is no possibility of appeal.

All other decisions of unfitness pronounced by the occupational physician may be appealed to the head physician of the occupational health division. This appeal may be made by both the employer and the employee.

In fact, when the occupational physician determines that an employee is unfit to hold a job after conducting a medical examination, he or she must inform the employee and the employer by registered letter, indicating the means and deadline for appeal.

The occupational physician can only declare an employee unfit for his or her job after a study of the job and working conditions, except in cases where keeping the employee at his or her job would pose an immediate danger to the employee’s health or safety or that of third parties.

The employer may not continue to employ an employee in a position for which he has been declared unfit by the occupational physician and must, as far as possible, assign the employee declared unfit to another position.

Under certain conditions, the occupational physician who has found an employee unfit for his or her job must or may refer the matter to the mixed Commission:

• The occupational physician must refer the matter to the Mixed Commission if:
  • The company has at least 25 employees;
  • The employee is in possession of a certificate of fitness for his or her job or if he or she has been working for at least three years.

In this case, the occupational physician who refers the matter to the Mixed Commission sends it a motivated opinion stating that the employee is unfit for the position held, accompanied by the supporting documents.

In his opinion, the competent occupational physician will rule on the employee’s residual work capacity and on a possible reduction in working hours. At the time of each medical re-evaluation, the competent occupational physician may modify the periodicity initially set. The periodicity must be less than two years unless the restrictions are of a definitive nature.

The Mixed Commission shall decide either on internal or external professional rehabilitation. The competent occupational physician informs the employer and the employee concerned, sending them a copy of the referral document.

• The competent occupational physician may, in agreement with the employee, refer the matter to the Mixed Commission if:
  • The company employed less than 25 people;
  • The employee is in possession of a certificate of fitness for the job or has at least 3 years’ seniority in the company.

The employee’s agreement must be transmitted by the competent occupational physician to the Mixed Commission at the time of referral.

The Mixed Commission decides on internal or external professional rehabilitation, but internal professional rehabilitation can only be decided upon with the agreement of the employer.

In the event of external professional reclassification, the employer is required to pay the employee a compensation that depends on the employee’s length of service as indicated below:

• 1 month’s salary after at least 5 years of continuous service;
• 2 months’ salary after at least 10 years of continuous service;
• 3 months’ salary after at least 15 years of continuous service;
• 4 months’ salary after 20 or more years of continuous service.

The length of service is assessed on the date of notification of the decision to reclassify the employee’s job. The compensation is calculated based on the gross salaries actually paid to the employee for the last 12 months immediately preceding the date of notification of the decision to reclassify the employee’s job. This compensation paid to the employee is reimbursed to the employer by the Employment Fund upon written request with supporting documents. The request must be submitted, under penalty of foreclosure, within six months of the date of notification of the Joint Commission’s decision.

Finally, night workers with recognized health problems related to the fact that they perform night work are reassigned, as far as possible, to day work for which they are suited.