What happens if an employee falls sick while on vacation in Belgium?

In Belgium, recent changes to the law (effective from 2024) have made it clearer how sickness during vacation is handled, ensuring employees are not unfairly penalized if they become ill while on leave.


Key Points:

  1. Sick Leave During Vacation: If an employee falls ill during their scheduled vacation, the days they are sick will not count as vacation days. Instead, those days are converted to sick days, and the employee can take those lost vacation days at a later time.

  2. Medical Certificate: To qualify for this adjustment, the employee must provide a medical certificate for the illness during the vacation period. This helps ensure the absence is properly recorded and confirmed.

  3. Taking the Lost Vacation Days: Once the employee has recovered, they can reschedule the sick days as vacation time. This ensures they don't lose out on their entitlement to annual leave.

For example, if an employee is on vacation from July 1st to July 14th but falls ill from July 5th to July 8th, those 4 days would be converted to sick leave. The employee can then take those 4 days at a later date when they are able to.

This new rule ensures that employees are not disadvantaged by illness during their scheduled vacation, in line with changes made to Belgian labor laws in 2024.

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