Employment law
Non-occupational illness or accident
Six months of suspension, compensation borne by the employer, and three obligations on the employee.
Flu, a fracture over the weekend, a hospital stay unconnected with work: the absence is real, it suspends the contract, but it falls under a different regime from that of a workplace accident.
Here, the employer compensates, not social security. That difference governs the whole handling of the absence. For a comparison of the two regimes, see Sick leave.
1. What the absence does to the contract
Absence for non-occupational illness or accident suspends the employment contract, for up to six months. During that period:
- the post is kept and the contractual bond remains;
- accrued seniority is not lost;
- the period, where medically justified, is treated as effective work for calculating annual leave.
The six-month ceiling is not a formality: beyond it, the employee's situation must be resolved, and suspension cannot continue indefinitely. Labour Code, Articles L.34 and L.149 (French).
2. The employee's three obligations
| Obligation | Content | Deadline |
|---|---|---|
| Inform | Notify the employer of the absence immediately | Immediately, save established force majeure |
| Justify | Produce medical justification for the absence | Beyond three working days |
| Submit to a check | Accept the medical check requested by the employer | At the employer's request |
The first is the most often neglected, and the easiest to organise: a written instruction in the internal rules, whom to notify, by what channel, before what time, resolves almost every difficulty.
The third deserves a clarification: the medical check aims to verify the reality of the incapacity, not to debate the diagnosis or influence the treating doctor's decision. It is exercised with restraint, and its result is one element among others.
3. Compensation borne by the employer
The employer compensates the employee during the suspension, for up to six months, on a scale combining two parameters: seniority, and the notice period applicable to the occupational category.
| Seniority | Compensation due |
|---|---|
| First year of service | Compensation equal to remuneration, for a period matching the notice period : one, two or three months by occupational category |
| Beyond the first year | The first-year compensation, increased by half a month's remuneration during the notice period |
Example: an employee with three years' service, whose category carries one month's notice, and whose monthly pay is CFA 200,000. Compensation is one month's pay, CFA 200,000, increased by half a month, CFA 100,000, a total of CFA 300,000.
Two important reservations. The collective agreement may provide a more favourable regime, and often does: it then prevails over this scale. And compulsory health insurance may cover care costs, which is a separate question from income replacement.
4. What the employer may not do
- Sanction a justified absence. Medically justified sickness absence is not a breach.
- Terminate the contract on the sole ground of the absence. Sick leave is not in itself a ground for dismissal.
- Make a disciplinary deduction. Fines and pecuniary sanctions are prohibited; only the absence of pay for time not worked, under the scale's conditions, is lawful.
- Require a diagnosis. The medical certificate establishes the incapacity and its length; it need not state the nature of the condition.
5. What to do at the end of the six months?
Suspension cannot continue beyond six months. Three routes then open, to be examined in this order:
- return to work, with a medical examination and, if needed, adjustment of the post;
- redeployment, if the occupational physician finds the employee unfit for the post held;
- termination, which then requires a legitimate ground, the applicable procedure and respect for the employee's rights.
Anticipating this deadline a few weeks ahead avoids handling it under pressure, and allows the return-to-work examination to be arranged properly.
Key takeaways
| The rule | What it implies |
|---|---|
| Suspension of the contract, six months maximum | Post kept, seniority maintained |
| Immediate notification of the employer | Save established force majeure |
| Medical justification beyond three working days | The certificate establishes incapacity, not diagnosis |
| The employer compensates, on a scale | Tied to seniority and the category's notice period |
| The collective agreement may be more favourable | It then prevails over the statutory scale |
| At six months, a decision is required | Return, redeployment or reasoned termination |