New rules for reintegration pathway 3.0

An employee who is not yet incapacitated for work but is at risk of absence due to health problems may ask their employer to examine whether an adjustment to their workstation and/or adapted or alternative work is possible (so-called preventive RIT to avoid incapacity for work). 

The initiation of a RIT at the employee’s request is therefore no longer limited to periods of incapacity for work but is also possible beforehand. 

The employer is not obliged to accept this preventive request but must inform the employee of their decision as soon as possible.

EMPLOYER’S OPTION TO INITIATE A FORMAL/INFORMAL RIT FROM THE FIRST DAY OF INCAPACITY FOR WORK

Employers may (but are not obliged to) initiate a formal or informal RIT from the first day of incapacity for work, subject to the consent of the employee concerned.

New is that employers can now:

• Request the prevention advisor-occupational physician (PA-OP) to invite the employee for a pre-return-to-work visit (a request previously only possible by the employee). The employee is not obliged to accept the PA-OP’s invitation at the employer’s request; and
• Initiate a RIT from the first day of the employee’s incapacity for work. Employers no longer need to wait for the three-month waiting period of uninterrupted incapacity for work: this waiting period has been abolished.

EMPLOYER’S OBLIGATION TO ASSESS WORK POTENTIAL

In the Act implementing the strengthened RTW policy, the concept of “residual capacities” has been replaced by “work potential” (a more positive approach) in the sickness and invalidity legislation (referred to as “Z.I.V.” Act). This concept is now also defined in the Code on Well-being at Work, not word-for-word identical to the Z.I.V Act but substantively similar.

This is important because employers are now required, after at least eight weeks of incapacity for work, to have the work potential of the employee assessed by the PA-OP and their nursing staff according to a standardised procedure.

If this assessment shows that the employee on sick leave has work potential, the employer and the employee are informed, and:

• The employer may (optional) ask the PA-OP to invite the employee for a pre-return-to-work visit or to initiate a RIT; or
• The employer employing 20 or more workers must (mandatory) ask the PA-OP to initiate a RIT no later than six months after the start of the employee’s incapacity for work.
  • This obligation applies to incapacity for work starting from 1 January 2026.
  • Employers who fail to comply risk a level 2 sanction under the Social Criminal Code, with the fine multiplied by the number of employees concerned.

FORMAL REQUIREMENTS

Invitations from the PA-OP for a RIT examination must:

• Be sent by registered mail; and
• State that the advisory physician of the health insurance fund will be informed if the employee does repeatedly not respond to the PA-OP’s invitation (see below) and that the employee may, in that case, be sanctioned in relation to their benefits.

It is now explicitly stipulated that the employer must ensure that the PA-OP has the necessary information to contact the employee on sick leave.

All employers must maintain contact with employees on sick leave, for which a mandatory procedure must be included in the work rules, specifying at least:

• Who will contact the employee on sick leave;
• The frequency of contact. 

This procedure is part of an active absence management policy aimed at facilitating and preparing the return to work in case of incapacity for work. It is in no way intended to verify whether the absence for health reasons is justified.

Mandatory communication between the various stakeholders takes place via the TRIO platform, specifically for:

• Consultation and data exchange: The PA-OP uses the TRIO platform to consult with the attending physician, the advisory physician of the health insurance fund, and other relevant stakeholders (such as other prevention advisors, RTW coordinator, (dis)ability case manager, ...) regarding the employee’s health status and to share data with them, with the aim of facilitating the return to work.

  This is only possible with the employee’s written consent for each stakeholder involved. Templates for obtaining this consent will be made available on the Public Service website (FOD WASO / SPF Emploi).

  Currently, not all physicians involved (such as PA-OPs from internal prevention services) have access to this platform. In the meantime, they may use other communication methods, which will be clarified on the Public Service website.
   

• Information on procedure progress: The PA-OP must also use the TRIO platform to inform the advisory physician of the health insurance fund about the progress of procedures so that the latter can perform their legal duties (such as imposing sanctions if an employee repeatedly fails to respond to the PA-OP’s invitation in the context of the RIT). No employee consent is required for this information transfer.

If the employee is permanently unfit for the agreed work and the RIT has ended, the PA-OP must ensure referral to the competent service or institution of the Regions and Communities (VDAB, Forem, Actiris) for guidance in the context of reintegration.

Regional mediation services are therefore now explicitly mentioned as stakeholders in the RIT, as it may be useful to explore employment opportunities with other employers. For the same reason, they are also mentioned in connection with the pre-return-to-work visit.

The period of uninterrupted incapacity for work required to initiate a procedure to terminate the employment contract due to medical force majeure is now six months instead of nine months. This also applies to employees who were already incapable to work in 2025. The rest of the procedure remains unchanged.

With RIT 3.0, more responsibility lies with employers (e.g., assessment of work potential, initiation of RITs, contact obligation, etc.). They will therefore need to review and, if necessary, adapt their internal reintegration processes. 

As mentioned in our e-zine of 19 December 2025, the first step is to adapt/check the work rules. Employers who do not yet have a procedure must include a contact procedure for employees on sick leave in the work rules (via the normal procedure for amending the work rules, with the agreement of the works council or employees). Those who already have a procedure must check whether it is compatible with the new rules.

Employers are unlikely to face immediate sanctions from the social inspection, but it is advisable to put this in order as soon as possible.