'Medical tag' to stop workers throwing a sickie
Draft legislation that will do away with all the distinctions between blue and white collar workers is courting controversy. The daily De Tijd reports that employers will in future be able to oblige sick employees to stay at home for up to 4 hours a day to accommodate a visit by a doctor sent to check whether the worker really is ill.
The change is seen as a compensation for the abolition of the first day of sick leave that remained unpaid for blue collar workers.
The bill opens the way for collective labour agreements to include a stipulation that sick employees have to be at home between the hours of 7am and 8pm for a limited period of time. Employees who fail to open up could lose their pay for the day.
Jan Vercamst of the liberal union: "It means that employees are being medically tagged and cannot leave their home. We can't agree with such a violation of personal privacy. Blue collar workers are accused of throwing more sickies on a Monday than white collar workers. We want to end all discrimination, but this we cannot accept."