Can Your Employer Visit You at Home When You're Sick?
Employer control during sick leave
If you're off work due to illness, your employer is not allowed to visit you at home to check up on you. Privacy regulations are clear: employers are not permitted to conduct home checks themselves. However, they can ask the occupational health service or company doctor to visit you at home. This is different from a friendly visit out of genuine concern, which may be agreed upon between you and your employer.
Role of the company doctor
Even when a company doctor performs a home visit, you are not expected to stay at home all day just in case they come by. The law requires that your privacy be respected, and that any interference is limited to what is strictly necessary. Therefore, it’s not acceptable for the occupational health service or company doctor to show up every day without a clear reason.
Case law example
Sometimes an employer suspects that an employee is not genuinely ill. If there are concrete indications of this, it may be permitted to hire a private investigation agency. For instance, in one court case, a temporary worker who claimed he couldn’t use his right arm after being kicked by a cow was reported to be working at his girlfriend’s flower shop. After receiving this anonymous tip, the temp agency hired a private investigator, who caught the worker carrying items on multiple days. He was dismissed on the spot, and the subdistrict court in Limburg ruled that the dismissal was justified.
This blog was written by Mr. Stijn Blom, employment law attorney at expatlawyer.nl B.V. Stijn has extensive experience in employment law and supports entrepreneurs on a daily basis with a wide range of employment law issues. From dismissal cases to drafting watertight agreements and regulations – with his practical and personal approach, he helps employers and employees move forward. Want to know more? Visit Stijn’s page.
Expatlawyer.nl is happy to think along with you if you have questions about the topic of monitoring during illness. Feel free to get in touch.
June 2024
