The CM argues that the measure would ease the pressure on family doctors, as well as allow savings for insurers. Every visit to the doctor costs the mutuality €20. The requirement for a note applies to all staff classified as “workers” but to only some “employees” – a distinction that is in the process of being dismantled (see Flanders Today, 13 July).

The Belgian Employers’ Federation (VBO) said it remained open to the proposal if employers were given other means of checking for fake absenteeism. “If a check were to show that the employee had falsely called in sick, he would have to be liable to a sanction,” the organisation said. “That requires guarantees, otherwise anyone could call in sick just to have a day off work.”

NSZ, which represents the self-employed, rejecting the CM proposal entirely. “The socalled ‘Monday disorder’ is not an illusion, it’s a bitter reality,” said a spokesman. Scrapping the one-day requirement would lead to even more absenteeism, according to the NSZ, which has lobbied to have it extended to include all employees as well as workers. “Someone who is really ill deserves every support,” the union said in a statement. “But someone who just wants to recover from a hard night out or to take a day off under the guise of illness has to do so on his own account.”

Unizo, which also represents the selfemployed, also rejected the proposal, although it did express some sympathy for the CM’s reasoning. But the need for a doctor’s note was, the organisation said, one of the few remaining obstacles between “the grey and black zones of absenteeism”.

Absences lower in Flanders

According to research recently carried out by Unizo, absenteeism is lower among small businesses in Flanders than in the country as a whole. In Belgium, the average number of sick days a year is 12, while for small Flemish businesses, it is slightly lower. Among small-business employers themselves, 81% report never taking a day off.

“Someone who wants to stay at home is not going to be put off by the need for a doctor’s certificate,” said Jochen Bessemans of Voka, the Flemish chamber of commerce. “It’s not so difficult to pretend to the doctor that you’re not feeling well.”

Four out of 10 municipalities in Flanders is suffering a shortage of family doctors. In Flanders, 111 municipalities are short of doctors, as are 10 out of Brussels’ 19 communes. In Flanders, the shortage is especially serious in mid-sized towns like Geraardsbergen, Ninove, Maaseik, Lokeren and Mortsel.

According to the Syndicate of Flemish GPs, however, the government’s figures do not add up. “They’re even including doctors who have died. We are asking for a proper survey based on information from the doctors themselves,” said Rufij Baeke, vice-chairman of the Syndicate.

The premium paid to doctors who set up a practice in a municipality where there is a shortage, worth €20,000, is not the correct mechanism to solve the problem, Baeke said. “It may be fine for some people who are coming into the profession, but that’s not the problem. The government would do better to make the profession more attractive, for example by cutting the amount of red tape involved and advancing the introduction of computerisation.”