A Dutch court has ruled an employer was justified in
dismissing an employee who took on outside work when she had been
declared unfit for normal duties and was doing a phased return to
work from home.
If an employee is unfit for work, both the employer and the
employee have obligations. For instance, the employer must make
arrangements to allow the unfit employee to do suitable work within
(or outside) the company. Suitable work is work that is suited to
the strengths and abilities of the employee at that time. On the
other hand, the employee must perform this ‘suitable
work' if the employer provides him or her with that
opportunity.
As a rule, an employee builds up his or her number of hours of
(suitable) work, based on the advice of the company doctor
regarding recovery and capacity to work. Usually an employee starts
with a few hours work per week and works towards full
reintegration.
