the employee fit for work, the employer may not draw hasty conclusions from it and dismiss the employee on the view that he is not sick.
In fact, the certificate drawn up by that doctor does not take precedence over the certificate produced by the employee. It does not by itself constitute definitive proof of the fictional character of the employee’s illness and does not of itself overturn the sickness certificate issued by the employee’s attending physician.
The employer must then either obtain a 3rd medical opinion, or other information supporting the employer’s conviction that the employee is not incapable of working, the aim being to disambiguate the other two opinions.
Nota Bene
if the employer has 2 medical certificates concluding that the employee is fit for work and/or where other information is available, he may validly dismiss the employee with notice, and may do so even before expiry of the period of protection against dismissal.
Examples
The following are to be regarded as “other information”:
- belated and unauthorised nights out;
- frequency of going outside;
- etc.