What is work capacity?

Work capacity is the ability of an employee to perform work activities despite health complaints. This is not about a pure medical diagnosis, but an assessment of employability.

Specifically, we look at the balance between the employee's capacity (physical and mental) and the demands of the job. Is a match possible, possibly through adapted work or a different function?

The new procedure from 2026

The legislator wants employers and employees to be involved earlier. Therefore, from January 1, 2026, a strict timetable applies to every sick employee:

1. The notification (4 weeks)

As an employer, you report the employee after 4 weeks of incapacity for work to the prevention service. This is the starting signal for a first contact by the prevention service.

2. The mandatory screening (8 weeks)

As soon as the employee is 8 weeks uninterruptedly incapacitated for work, the 'Work Capacity Assessmentt' is started.
The employee receives a digital questionnaire about:

  • The assessment of their own recovery.
  • The confidence to return to the workplace (Return to Work Self-Efficacy).
  • The assessment of their own limitations.

3. The result: the gatekeeper

The prevention adviser-occupational physician analyzes the answers. As an employer, you receive the result, which determines what you may (or must) do:

  • Positive work capacity: There are possibilities. You can now start a formal Reintegration Trajectory (RIT 3.0).
    Note: Do you have more than 20 employees? Then you risk administrative fines if you have not started a trajectory after 6 months while possibilities exist.
  • Negative work capacity: There are currently no possibilities. The file is put 'on hold'.
  • Non-cooperative: The employee does not respond. This is reported by the prevention service to the consulting physician (health insurance fund) and RIZIV via the TRIO platform.
The role of the manager in the field of well-being (PSR)

Financial impact: The 'carrot and the stick'

The 2026 legislation directly links your efforts to your wallet. The system of accountability is thoroughly reformed: from a retrospective statistical settlement to a direct incentive during the period of illness.

🔴 The 'stick': New contributions and sanctions

  • From 50 employees (new solidarity contribution):
    The old statistical contribution disappears. In its place comes a direct system: if you have an employee who is long-term absent? Then as an employer, you pay a solidarity contribution of 30% of the sickness benefit (or 18% of the gross wage) during the 2nd and 3rd month of incapacity for work.
  • From 20 employees (administrative fine):
    If the screening shows there is work capacity? Then you are obliged to take action. If you do not start a reintegration trajectory and do not make a plan within 6 months? Then you risk level 2 sanctions (fines from € 400 to € 4,000 per employee).

🟢 The 'carrot': Premiums and certainty

Do you succeed in getting someone back to work?

  • Increased return-to-work premium: If you hire someone who is long-term incapacitated for work? Then you are entitled to a premium. (Note: the conditions for higher amounts vary; always check the RIZIV website).
  • No risk of relapse: The threshold for attempting return-to-work is lowered. The 'neutralization' of guaranteed wage has been abolished for progressive return-to-work. If an employee relapses during this trajectory? Then you pay no new guaranteed wage.

Relapse and progressive return to work: less risk

Many employers hesitate to allow someone to return to work part-time, fearing the costs in case of a relapse. The legislator removes this hurdle.

  • Abolition of neutralization: With progressive return to work, the so-called 'neutralization' of the guaranteed wage disappears.
  • Specifically: If an employee completely falls out again during a progressive return to work trajectory? Then this employee immediately falls back on the sickness benefit from the health insurance fund. As an employer, you do not have to pay a new guaranteed wage.
  • Upon full resumption: Only if the employee has effectively worked full-time again for at least 8 weeks will the right to guaranteed wage arise again during a new period of illness.

This makes it financially much safer to attempt reintegration.

How Premed supports you in this new trajectory

The new legislation brings a lot of administration and responsibility. Premed closely follows these developments so you don't have to. We help you proactively respond to the changes of 2026.

From policy to guidance
We support you on three levels:

  • Policy: We assist in drafting a policy for making contact during incapacity for work (mandatory in your work regulations).
  • Screening: We handle the entire administrative flow of the 'Work Capacity Assessment', including the legal summons.
  • Solution: Our occupational physicians do not work alone. They are supported by ergonomists, psychologists, and other prevention experts. Together, we look beyond medical limitations and seek creative, feasible solutions in the workplace.

This way, we create space for sustainable return to work — always starting from the question: what is still possible?

🎓 Want to know more? Follow our webinars

Would you like to delve deeper into the financial impact (fines and premiums) or do you have specific questions about the active absence management policy?
Premed regularly organises info sessions and webinars on this topic.

👉 View our training calendar and sign up for the next webinar (in Dutch)

Frequently asked questions

The employee is legally obliged to cooperate in determining the work capacity. If the employee does not respond to our first invitation, we will send reminders. If we ultimately receive no input, we cannot assess the work capacity. This will be noted in the file and passed on to the advising physician (health insurance fund/RIZIV) for further follow-up.

No, there is an important distinction here. For ordinary illness, the assessment of work capacity starts after 8 weeks. Is the incapacity for work the result of an industrial accident or occupational disease? Then the work capacity can only be assessed once the injuries are 'consolidated' (permanent/stable), and therefore not automatically after 8 weeks.

Work capacity refers to the extent to which someone is able to perform work — both physically and mentally — within a specific context, such as a job or work environment. It is an assessment of what a person can do, regardless of what they are currently doing.

It is an important pillar of federal reintegration policy.

The **assessment of work capacity** is a mandatory "pre-phase" or screening after 8 weeks of illness. Here, a questionnaire is used to easily check if there are any possibilities at all. The Reintegration Trajectory (RIT) is the effective follow-up with a medical examination and a reintegration plan. Important: From 2026, as an employer, you may not simply start an RIT if a positive **work capacity** has not first been established (unless the employee spontaneously agrees).

For employers, as of January 1, 2026, a fixed timeline applies with a notification after 4 weeks and a screening after 8 weeks of incapacity for work. If you do not follow this, you expose yourself to various financial risks:

  • Administrative sanctions (Direct risk):
    If the screening — or at a later time — shows that there is positive work capacity, you as an employer are obliged to consider a reintegration process (RIT). If you do not do this and no reintegration plan is drawn up, you risk administrative or criminal fines (sanction level 2).
  • New Solidarity Contribution (Replaces the old responsabilisation contribution):
    The 'old' responsabilisation contribution will be abolished but replaced by a more direct system. Companies (>50 employees) with an excessive influx into disability will pay a solidarity contribution from 2026 (approx. 30% of the sickness benefit). A timely assessment of work capacity is necessary to avoid this "fine".
  • Missed premiums (Opportunity cost):
    Without a correct procedure and screening, you cannot claim the increased work resumption premium (€ 1,000 – € 3,000) for employment in adapted or other work.

A timely assessment therefore not only protects you against fines, but especially against the high costs of long-term disability.

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