Partial return to work

How your part-time benefit is calculated depends on the type of part-time work you resume;

Labourer or office worker.

Your benefit is calculated based on the number of hours worked per month, known as an ‘employment fraction’. That fraction is expressed in Q/S: Q represents the number of hours you work part-time with the consent of the advising physician. The S represents the number of working hours of a full-time employee at the company. Your benefit will not be completely reduced: 20% of your benefit is exempted from the employment fraction.

A general example: You are incapacitated and you are receiving a benefit of €50 per day.

• Q: The advising physician has authorised you to work 10 hours per week.
• S: The normal number of working hours in your job is 38.
• Q/S thus becomes 10/38 = 26.31%.
• 20% of this will be exempt.
• Your daily benefit allowance is reduced by 6%: €50 - 6% = €47.

We can calculate and pay your benefit only after we receive the monthly report from your employer. Your employer must provide us with this report digitally.

Child minder:

• The first year of authorised work: -25%
• From second year of authorised work: -50%

Employee in a sheltered or social enterprise workshop, or in a social enterprise working environment:

Your benefit will not be reduced. No 'report is required in case of an authorised activity as wage earner' .

Please note! You must always submit an application for part-time work to the advising physician, even in the case of an authorisation for the resumption of part-time work.

Self-employed as main or secondary occupation: 

• Your benefit will not be reduced in the first six months of part-time work.
• Your daily benefit is reduced by 10% from the first day of the seventh month until 31 December of the third year following the year that you started the part-time activity.
• From 1 January of the fourth year after the year of the initial authorisation your benefit reduction will be aligned to your professional income as a self-employed person from three years prior.

For example: You will be self-employed part-time from 01/04/2021.

• From 01/04/2021 to 30/09/2021, there will be no reduction in daily benefit allowance.
• From 01/10/2021 to 31/12/2024: daily benefit allowance will be reduced by 10%.
• From 01/01/2025, the reduction in income will be based on professional earnings as a self-employed person received in 2022.

For municipal councillors or CPAS council members*:

Your benefit will not be reduced.

*Not valid for the council chair position holder

Your progressive employment has an impact on your holiday pay and possibly also on the accrual of your holiday entitlement. Contact your employer or the National Office for Annual Holidays (if you are a worker) about this.

You should only receive a holiday certificate if you are engaged in a part-time activity as a wage earner.

If you still have an active authorisation from our advising physician to perform an activity during your incapacity for work until 31 December of this year, then you will receive a 'holiday leave certificate authorised activity' at the end of November.

We do recommend that you take your remaining holidays by 31 December at the latest, as you will receive partial benefits for the holidays taken. Not taking up your holiday leave days? Then we cannot pay you your benefit for this in the month of December. You will receive a lower benefit in December in that case.

• Please ask the employer(s) where you are currently performing the authorised activity to  forward the monthly statement of authorised activity to Helan. This can be done digitally.
• You or your employer must also provide us with the 'holiday leave certificate authorised activity'. Your employer can do this digitally. You can also send us the holiday leave certificate digitally  or by post to Helan Independent Health Insurance Fund, Dienst arbeidsongeschiktheid, Boomsesteenweg 5 in 2610 Wilrijk.

Helan must receive both documents on 2 January of next year at the earliest. Both documents are needed to calculate your benefits for the month of December.

Did you permanently stop performing your authorised activity this year and are you again completely incapacitated for work?
You may not take the remaining holiday leave from the date you stopped performing your authorised activity. However, to avoid the unjustified deducion of 24 days from your benefit in December, we will need to receive your completed holiday leave certificate. That is how we can establish your true holiday leave balance and can correctly calculate your benefit for the month of December.

Download the sworn statement of non-resumption. Send it to us digitally or fill in the document and send it by post to Helan Health Insurance Fund - Dienst arbeidsongeschiktheid, Boomsesteenweg 5 in 2610 Wilrijk.

As soon as we have processed your document, the advising physician's authorisation will be cancelled and your full-time benefit will continue to be paid.

If you then wish to work part-time again during your incapacity for work period, remember to reapply to your health insurance fund in advance.

Download the sworn statement of non-resumption. Send it to us digitally or fill in the document and send it by post to Helan Health Insurance Fund - Dienst arbeidsongeschiktheid,Boomsesteenweg 5 in 2610 Wilrijk. 

As soon as we have processed this document, the advising physician's authorisation will be terminated and you will receive an authorisation by post with the correct end date. After this end date, your employer no longer needs to provide us with monthly statements. From the end date your full-time benefit will continue to be paid.

If you then want to work part-time again during your incapacity for work, remember to reapply to your health insurance fund in advance.

Have you received a convocation letter from the advising physician, but are scheduled to work part-time at that moment with the advising physician's authorisation? You are required to attend this appointment. In order to minimise disruption to the strict schedule of the advising physicians and paramedics, it is not possible to take into account your schedule.

So, please let your employer know immediately that you will not be coming to work at that time. Have the convocation letter stamped by the advising physician and submit it to your employer as proof of legal absence.

If you have multiple employers, you should submit as many applications for part-time work as places where you wish to return to work part-time.

Example 1

You used to work 20 hours a week for employer 1 and 20 hours a week for employer 2. Now you want to work part-time for both employers for 10 hours a week for each employer, you submit 2 applications, one for each employer.

Example 2

You used to work 20 hours a week for employer 1 and 20 hours a week for employer 2. Now you want to resume part-time with employer 1 for the full 20 hours per week. Then you submit an application for part-time work resumption for your activity with employer 1.

You can. Then you submit an application for part-time work resumption for your activity with this new employer. We assume that you yourself inform your pre-disability employer.

The end date of your agreement part-time work resumption remains.

Has your current employer changed its name, e.g. due to a merger or takeover? Notify us. You don't have to submit the application form again.

But if you are employed by an employer other than the one listed on the authorisation, you will have to submit the application form again.

Refer your employer to:

• The Social Security website.
• The Social Security contact centre: T. 02 511 51 51, available every working day from 7am to 8pm.
• Or the administrative office that manages the payroll for your employer.