Prevention
Employees can now request a reintegration procedure before the start of incapacity for work if there is a risk of absence. The employer is not obliged to accept this, but must communicate their decision promptly.
Informal procedure
Employers can now also request a preliminary assessment before resuming work. The employee may refuse this.
Contact during absences
Employers must include a procedure in the work regulations to maintain contact during incapacity for work (contact person and frequency). This requires a formal amendment to the work regulations.
Early appropriate measures
A reintegration procedure can now be initiated by the employer from the first day of incapacity for work (with the employee's consent) or after eight weeks if work potential is established by the occupational physician. This work potential assessment must be initiated by all employers after eight weeks of incapacity for work. Employers with ≥ twenty employees are obliged to start a reintegration procedure for employees with work potential no later than six months after the start of the incapacity for work.
The medical force majeure procedure can now be initiated earlier by the employer after six months incapacity for work (previously nine).
Responsibility of parties
The exemption for submitting a medical certificate is now limited to twice a year (previously three) for employees of employers with ≥ fifty employees. It is therefore advisable to check the work regulations and, if necessary, amend them according to the formal procedure.
In addition, the occupational physician, treating physician and advisory doctor will exchange information via the TRIO platform regarding return-to-work possibilities and employee cooperation in reintegration procedures. This information flow is crucial, as employees may be sanctioned by the health insurance fund after two unanswered invitations from the occupational physician. Such invitations will in future be sent by registered mail.
Employers with ≥ twenty employees who fail to initiate a reintegration procedure for the employee with work potential within the first six months after the start of the incapacity for work risk a level II sanction under the Social Penal Code.
Furthermore, employers with ≥ fifty employees will be required to pay a solidarity contribution of thirty percent of the incapacity benefits during the second and third month of incapacity for work for adult employees under fifty-five years (with exceptions such as temporary workers, flexi-workers and occasional workers).
Conversely, the employer is no longer obliged to pay guaranteed salary when an employee becomes incapacitated again (relapse) within the first eight weeks after the end of a period of incapacity for work for which guaranteed salary was due (previously fourteen days). The employee retains the right to any unused balance of guaranteed salary. In addition, during the entire period of partial resumption of work, the employer is not obliged to pay guaranteed salary in the event of new incapacity for work (previously this exemption applied for the first twenty weeks).
Entry into force
These measures apply from 1 January 2026, with transitional arrangements for solidarity contributions, guaranteed salary and reintegration (only for incapacity for work or procedures from 1/1/2026).