*Update 03.01.2023 additional information added (footnote 4) on sick leave away from the place of employment.**Update 18.12.2022: Having struggled to find the correct email addresses to send a sickness certificate or declare an accident, we have found using PMO Mobile 2.0 on a smart phone to be a bit more user friendly.* If you are sick during your annual leave it is possible to have those days credited to your sysper quota but the rules are different from those for being at work and the deadlines are tighter [1]
You require a certificate from the first day and must inform the medical service and send the certificate within 48 hours.
| At work | On annual (or maternity) leave | |
| Certificate required | longer than 3 calendar days [2] | within 48 hours [3] |
| Certificate to be sent | within 5 calendar days | within 48 hours |
There are always situations where meeting a deadline is not possible and in those cases, please speak to someone at medical absences to provide details and justification for the delay, you might be successful in having the deadline extended: annual leave is precious, do what you can to enjoy it!
Please note that if this sickness relates to an accident then in addition to the medical certificate, you need to submit an accident declaration form (within 10 working days) in order to have all costs reimbursed at 100% instead of the usual 85%.
Also, for those of you already on sick leave but who would like to be away from your usual place of residence, there is a process for this, so check out your options.[4]
Generation 2004 is here to support you, do not hesitate to contact us if you need any help.
[1] Note also that staff and their families covered by the JSIS also have accident insurance and can also request direct billing (e.g. that hospital bills are paid by the JSIS and that you then sort out the accounts afterwards). Here is more information.
[2] different conditions for those absent without a medical certificate for more than 12 days in total over the previous 12 months, and before or after annual leave.
[3] Calculation of the 48h deadline: 1st day of incapacity = 24h – 2nd day of incapacity = 48h.
Have this information saved in the drafts of your personal email in order to act within the 48-hour limit while on holiday:
2 emails needed:
1) to your line manager add email address to your draft so that you have it ready
2) to the Medical absences service (HR.D.6) within 48 hours and submit a copy of your medical certificate mentioning that you are on annual leave and including the following information:
• your name and surname;
• your personnel number;
• the start and end date of both sickness and annual leave;
• the exact address where you are staying during the absence period;
• your contact details during the absence period (mobile/phone number, fax, address, e-mail, etc.);
• the name, address and contact details of the doctor who wrote your certificate (name, address, phone/email).
HR.D.6
Brussels: HR-BXL-CONTROLES-MEDICAUX@ec.europa.eu
Luxembourg: HR-LUX-CONTROLES-MEDICAUX-CONGES-SPECIAUX@ec.europa.eu
Ispra: HR-ISP-CONTROLES-MEDICAUX-CONGES-SPECIAUX@ec.europa.eu
[4] *Update 03.01.2023* The Medical Service has very kindly supplied a frequently asked questions (FAQs) on the process for medical visits abroad [Voyage pour examen ou traitement médical (VME)] They said that while a request ideally has a response within 2-3 days, it is an option reserved for serious illness, accident or surgery. Feel free to contact them or us if your particular circumstances don’t fit there.
Also, we add here Commission Decision introducing implementing provisions on absences as a result of sickness or accident (No 92-2004 / 06.07.2004) for information. it Please don’t get stuck!
“Within 48 hours”. But for the calculation, it starts at the beginning of the day, even if it’s a Saturday. And that’s how you create confusion. At least, you are kind enough to explain the calculation.
I don’t know, I would have written something like “by the end of the next calendar day 23:59”. I knew about the 48 hours rules but managed to get my certificate denied because I didn’t know about the calculation. I’m fairly sure I’m not the only one.
I’m surprised the Clear Writing Team never asked HR to update these rules 🙂
Thanks very much for getting in touch with Generation 2004.
Yes, the instructions are unclear and a little odd e.g. even if you began to feel ill at 15.00 you would count as ill from 00.01 (so you would be officially ill even before you were actually ill).
Please try to speak to a human being at medical absences: the colleague who inspired this article managed to have a refusal overturned by giving those at medical absences some additional context (e.g. the difficulty involved in getting a sickness certificate in a foreign country at the weekend etc.)
Good luck, get in touch with us if you want help with this (our email is hyperlinked at the end of the article) and please let us know how you get on!
Thank you Michelle. Sadly, for me it occurred 5 years ago. I’ve had someone on the phone (the bearer of bad news) but I couldn’t get the decision overturned. “Rules are rules”.
I’m sorry to hear that:(
This appears to be an example of a rule made to avoid abuse but which ends up excluding many people and has the overall result of kicking people when they are already down. It is also a rule which does not take into account national differences: the Netherlands doesn’t issue sickness certificates and in Spain it is often only your own GP who can do this (and if you have no GP in Spain..?)
We can ask for the website not just to link to the definition of 48 hours (as it does now) but to explicitly state the counting method there on the initial page.
Is there something further you’d like to see done or that might make this process more user-friendly?
On this article, it’s good. Where it should be updated but never was (and probably never will be) is on https://myintracomm.ec.europa.eu/staff/EN/working-conditions/leave-absences/sick-leave/Pages/index.aspx