D6a8 - How long does the protection last?

Provided that the reporting obligations incumbent on the employee are complied with in all cases, even during extensions of absence on account of sickness, the employer is not authorised, even on serious grounds, to give notice to an employee of the termination of his employment contract during a period of no longer than 26 weeks following the occurrence of incapacity for work.

The period of 26 weeks runs from the time the employer is informed, or from the day of delivery of the sickness certificate.

In other words, at the end of 26 weeks of uninterrupted sickness, the employer is authorised to declare a dismissal.

Nevertheless, that does not mean that the absence of 26 weeks of itself automatically justifies dismissal; the employer must have real and serious grounds to dismiss the employee.

It is also incumbent upon the employer to produce evidence of the disruption which that absence caused to the proper operation of his company.

However, habitual absence in particular on account of sickness, may, depending on the circumstances, constitute a ground for dismissal with notice, if the origin of the incapacity is not occupational.

It should be noted that where a time limit is expressed in weeks, it shall end on the same weekday of its last week as the weekday corresponding to the date of the document, event, decision or giving of notice which started the time limit.