New rules re-integration track 2.0

The renewed re-integration track aims at an effective re-integration with the own employer. 
The new aspects of the RIT 2.0 are the following: 

• The RIT can be initiated 
  
  • at the request of the employee (or the employee’s treating doctor) from the 1st day of incapacity for work; or 
  • at the request of the employer after 3 months of uninterrupted incapacity for work (or with proof of permanent incapacity).
• If the employee fails to respond to the invitation 3 times (with at least 14 calendar days in between) of the prevention advisor - company doctor (PA-CD) for the purpose of the re-integration assessment, the RIT will be ended and the advising doctor and the employer will be informed accordingly.
• The re-integration assessment must be submitted by the PA-CD no later than 49 calendar days after receiving the request.
• The PA-CD can take three possible decisions:
  
  • Decision A: the employee is temporarily unable to perform the agreed work and adapted or other work is possible;
  • Decision B: the employee is permanently unable to perform the agreed work and adapted or other work is possible; 
  • Decision C: it is not possible to make a re-integration assessment for medical reasons (for the time being). In this case, the RIT is terminated and can in principle be restarted at the earliest 3 months after this decision. 
• The employer provides the re-integration plan to the employee within a maximum of 63 calendar days or 6 months after the re-integration assessment, depending on whether it concerns a decision A or B. 
• The report in which the employer motivates the decision not to draw up a re-integration plan shall, the case at hand, take into account the right to reasonable adjustments for persons with disabilities.
• The employee has 14 calendar days (starting from the day following the receipt of the re-integration plan) to agree or not with the proposed re-integration plan. 
• The appeal period is 21 days, with no possibility of extension. 
• The appeal must be addressed within 42 calendar days.
• Every year, the employer provides the health and safety committee with the aggregated and anonymized elements of the re-integration plans and of the motivated reports. He shall ensure that individual workers cannot be identified. This information then serves to adapt and improve the collective re-integration policy and the general well-being policy.

The scheme below provides a comparative overview of the main provisions from the ‘old’ and the ‘new’ RIT.