In the Netherlands, an employer cannot simply disregard an employee’s sick report and instead must engage the occupational physician if there are doubts. Until the physician has expressed an opinion on the employee's capacity or incapacity for work, the employer must respect the sick report, and the employee retains their right to a salary and protection from dismissal. The 's-Hertogenbosch Appellate Court recently confirmed that rejecting a sick report and/or stopping salary payments without prompt consultation of the occupational physician is permitted only in exceptional and compelling circumstances.
What was the situation here?
After the employee had reported sick to both her director and the occupational health and safety service, the director sent her an e-mail the next day informing her that he did not accept the sick report and ordered her to come to work the same day. When the employee did not show up, she was summarily dismissed for failing to come to work in violation of a specific work instruction.
Subdistrict Court: unlawful summary dismissal
The Subdistrict Court rejected the summary dismissal because the employer had not convincingly argued that the employee was not sick. That assessment is reserved for the occupational physician, according to the Subdistrict Court, and the employer failed to engage one.
Appellate Court
On appeal, the employer argued that the key issue was who bears the burden of proving sickness and capacity/incapacity for work in the...
Kenneth Scott Miller, 48, is charged with a felony count of making a false report to law enforcement. He was released from the Escambia County Jail on a $500 bond. According to an Escambia County ...