Vision & objective
A good collective policy aims for the sustainable employability of all employees. Reintegration is no longer seen as a purely individual problem of the sick employee, but as a shared responsibility. The objective is threefold:
- Uniformity: Every employee receives the same opportunities and guidance, regardless of department.
- Efficiency: We don't want to reinvent the wheel with every case (e.g., "What light work do we have?").
- Prevention: We learn from absenteeism to prevent future illness.
For whom is this mandatory?
The obligation to document a collective reintegration policy depends on the size of your company. The calculation is based on the average workforce (FTE) of the past calendar year:
- Companies with an average of 20 employees or more: You are obliged to establish a collective reintegration policy.
- Small companies (fewer than 20 employees): You are not obliged to write down a formal policy, but you are encouraged to think about possibilities for adapted work. Premed can support you in this.
The 3 pillars of the policy
A robust reintegration policy rests on three fundamental pillars:
Pillar A: Prevention & early detection
Waiting until someone drops out is avoided, which specifically means:
- Signalling function: Managers are trained to recognize signs of impending absenteeism (e.g., frequent short absences, declining performance, irritability).
- Prevention of absenteeism (right): Employees are actively informed that they can request adjustments during work (in accordance with new legislation 2026).
- Physical and mental well-being: Risk assessment of workstations (including physical strain and psychosocial risks) to eliminate sources of absenteeism. Periodic evaluation of these risk analyses.
Pillar B: The reintegration process (The 'Adapted Work Toolbox')
As an employer, you provide clear possibilities to enable a smooth reintegration process. To accelerate individual trajectories, as an employer, you define at company level what is possible in an "Inventory of Adapted Work". This is not a list of names, but a list of possibilities.
Some concrete examples from our 'Adapted Work Toolbox':
Example A: The Bricklayer / Construction Worker (Heavy physical, safety, outdoors)
Problem: Knee injury, impossible to climb scaffolding or carry heavy loads.
- Solution 1 (Tasks): Not going to the construction site, but preparing formwork in the workshop or cleaning and sorting materials.
- Solution 2 (Role): Going to the construction site as a "right-hand man": reading plans, taking measurements, operating the crane (if certified), so that colleagues can do the heavier work.
- Solution 3 (Training): Using the time to renew the SCC certificate or train new colleagues.
Example B: The Baker (Physically demanding, night work, heat)
Problem: Back pain making it impossible to lift heavy flour bags or stand for long periods.
- Solution 1 (Tasks): Temporarily or permanently focusing on finishing pastries (ergonomically seated at a table) instead of kneading dough.
- Solution 2 (Tools): Investing in a trolley to move raw materials so that no lifting is required.
- Solution 3 (Hours): Temporarily or permanently not working at night but helping in the shop during the day or with preparations for the next day.
Example C: The Administrative Assistant (Sedentary, mentally demanding, screen work)
Problem: Burnout symptoms, concentration problems, and overstimulation.
- Solution 1 (Stimuli): Temporarily not working at the reception desk or telephone, but doing archiving or data entry in a separate room (quiet, predictable work).
- Solution 2 (Tasks): Temporarily leaving complex files to a colleague or director and focusing on routine tasks (filing, stocktaking).
- Solution 3 (Location): Working from home part-time to avoid the stimuli of the office environment and commuting.
Pillar C: Evaluation & adjustment
As an employer, you learn from data. Once a year, you evaluate the policy together with the CPBW (or with the union delegation or with the employees themselves) based on an anonymized report from the occupational physician.
- Quantitative: Number of trajectories, success ratio, number of times "Plan A" vs "Plan B".
- Qualitative: Are the tasks in the Toolbox still current? Do managers feel sufficiently supported? Are there patterns in absenteeism?
Roles & responsibilities
Everyone has a role to play in this story:
| Role | Responsibility |
|---|---|
| Employer / HR | Facilitates the process, manages the inventory of adapted work, organizes the annual evaluation. |
| Manager | First point of contact, maintains communication (according to absence management policy), monitors the implementation of adapted work on the floor. |
| Employee | Reports problems in a timely manner, cooperates with reintegration proposals. |
| Occupational physician | Advises on medical possibilities, provides anonymized statistics for evaluation. |
| CPBW / Union | Advises on the policy, monitors fairness, and evaluates the results. |
Start today with our template
To assist you with this obligation, Premed has developed a convenient standard template. With this, you can easily create your own collective reintegration policy and inventory, in accordance with the legislation.
Advice for employers
- Start on time. Don't wait too long. Start now with inventorying "light tasks" within your company. Involve your managers in this; they know best what is possible on the floor.
- Make it alive. A policy is more than just paper. Ensure your managers are aware, so that employees who are at risk of dropping out or want to return after absence immediately have the right reflex: "Look in the inventory to see what is possible".
- Evaluate critically. Use the annual consultation with the CPBW not as a formality, but as an opportunity to learn from the cases of the past year.