DECISION laying down internal rules on medical examinations in connection with absence from work on medical grounds and periodic medical examinations of persons claiming the invalidity allowance

Section 1 - General provision

Article 1 - Subject

These internal rules lay down the arrangements in accordance with which Parliament may arrange examinations with a view to determining whether the absence from work on medical grounds of an official or other servant in active employment is justified. Unless otherwise stipulated, all references to 'officials' shall be understood to cover both officials and other servants. Article 2 - Rights and obligations of officials in the event of absence from work

Article 2 - Rights and obligations of officials in the event of absence from work

1. If absent from work as a result of sickness or an accident, officials shall inform their immediate superior, or the colleague whom the latter has designated for that purpose, of the reason for their absence, without being required to reveal information covered by medical confidentiality. They shall indicate where they are, giving precise contact details, and for how long they are likely to be absent from work. They shall be required to forward this information on their first day of absence, unless the seriousness of their condition clearly makes this impossible. 2. The department for which the official concerned works shall record the absence from work in the Streamline database as from the first half-day. 3. The medical certificate which officials are required to produce as from the fourth day of absence from work shall confirm that they are unfit for work, the period of time for which they will be unfit and whether or not they are authorised to travel. If they are authorised to travel, the certificate shall specify whether they may do so without restriction or only to perform essential daily tasks and/or to undergo treatment required during convalescence. 4. The 12-month period referred to in Article 59(2) of the Staff Regulations shall be understood to mean a period of 12 consecutive months, even if that period spans two calendar years. If an official exceeds the total of 12 days' uncertified sick leave during such a period, he/she shall be required to produce a medical certificate as from the first day of any further period of absence on medical grounds. 5. Following a period of absence covered by a medical certificate, officials shall be required either to resume work or to submit a fresh medical certificate should they still be unfit for work. The fresh medical certificate must then be drawn up on the first day of the further period of absence on medical grounds. 6. In order to be acceptable, the medical certificate must indicate legibly the surname and forename of the official, the name and contact details of the doctor issuing the certificate and the length of the period of absence. The official must send the certificate, with a note of his/her staff number, to the Medical Leave Service at the latest on the working day after the day on which it was issued, as evidenced by the postmark. If a legible copy of the medical certificate has been sent to the Medical Leave Service within this deadline, either by fax or as a scanned attachment to an email, the official shall be required to send or hand in the original no later than the day on which he/she returns to work. Where appropriate, the appointing authority shall assess whether exceptional circumstances justify the late forwarding of the medical certificate. 7. Where a doctor issues a medical certificate to an official on annual leave, the period covered by the certificate shall be converted from annual leave to sick leave only if, within 48 hours of the time of issue of the certificate, as evidenced by the post mark, and save in cases where the condition of the official concerned is so serious as to render this requirement clearly impossible, the following are sent to the Medical Leave Service:
a. all the information stipulated in paragraph 6 of this Article;
b. the exact address where the official is staying and details enabling him/her to be contacted immediately.

Medical certificates in respect of which the above information is not supplied will not be considered. Unless these rules are strictly observed, lost days of leave cannot be recovered. 8. In accordance with Article 59(1) of the Staff Regulations, any official on sick leave may at any time be required to undergo a medical examination. Officials on sick leave must also send to the Medical Leave Service, by post, email or fax, details of the telephone numbers at which they may be contacted during the period of sick leave, as well as their email address and a fax number if they have one. It is also recommended that they notify the Medical Leave Service, by post, email or fax, of the following:
a. the dates and times of any appointments they have made with doctors, at healthcare centres and/or at rehabilitation centres;
b. contact details for family members, neighbours or other trusted persons who may be contacted on their behalf if they become weakened, or their level of disability deteriorates, so as to restrict their mobility severely;
c. if the medical certificate authorises them to leave home to perform essential daily tasks, the period during the day when they carry out such tasks. That period may not exceed three hours.

During their period of sick leave, officials shall be required to keep the Medical Leave Service informed of any change in these particulars. 9. Without prejudice to Article 3(1)(b) and (c) of these rules, officials who fall ill or have an accident away from the place where they are employed may not be required to return there before the end of the period of absence authorised by the medical certificate. Only officials who wish to leave the place where they are employed to spend their sick leave elsewhere are required to request prior permission from the appointing authority in accordance with the second paragraph of Article 60 of the Staff Regulations.

Article 3 - Unauthorised absence

1. Without prejudice to the provisions of Article 59(1), (2) and (3) of the Staff Regulations and of Articles 16, 59, 91 and 131(5) of the CEOS, absence shall be deemed to be unauthorised within the meaning of Article 60, first paragraph, of the Staff Regulations:
a. if the official fails to comply with the provisions of Article 2 of these internal rules or fails to respond to an invitation issued pursuant to Article 7(10) and (11) of these rules;
b. if the official does not resume work following a medical examination the findings of which are not subsequently contradicted by an independent doctor's opinion, obtained in accordance with Article 59 of the Staff Regulations and with these rules, indicating that the official is fit to resume his/her duties immediately;
c. or if, on a day which does not immediately follow a weekend or an office closing day and on which the official is not on mission or on annual or special leave, he/she is not at his/her place of employment. Absence in such circumstances may not be justified by a medical certificate except in exceptional and duly documented circumstances.

2. Unauthorised absence shall be established by means of a decision of the appointing authority, which shall be notified to the official concerned. The date from which an absence is deemed to be unauthorised shall be set down in the appointing authority's decision and shall correspond to the date of the medical examination indicating that the official is fit to resume his/her duties immediately. 3. Should the official's fitness to resume work be confirmed by an additional examination, the appointing authority shall fix the date of resumption of work, which may not be earlier than the date of notification to the official concerned of the results of the additional examination. If the official fails to resume work on that date, his/her absence shall be deemed to be unauthorised.

Section 2 - Medical examination

Article 4 - Aims

The aims of the medical examination provided for in Article 59 of the Staff Regulations and Articles 16, 91 and 131(5) of the CEOS are to protect the interests of the service and to ensure that the provisions of the Staff Regulations with regard to absence are observed.

Article 5 - Decision

1. The decision to require an official to undergo a medical examination within the meaning of the third subparagraph of Article 59(1) of the Staff Regulations shall be taken by the appointing authority. 2. The following may propose to the appointing authority that an official should be required to undergo a medical examination:
a. the director of resources In directorates-general that do not have a director of resources and in the autonomous departments, the person in charge of human resources; in the case of accredited parliamentary assistants, the Member for whom the assistant works or the Member responsible.)
b. of the directorate-general in which the official concerned is employed;
c. the doctor responsible for the Medical Leave Service, who, at his/her discretion, may first contact the doctor who issued the medical certificate.

3. Before taking its decision, the appointing authority shall:
a. in all cases obtain information regarding the situation of the official concerned from the healthcare professionals in the Medical Service and/or the social service, who, without disclosing the substance of any information covered by medical or professional confidentiality, shall give the appointing authority their opinion on the advisability of the proposed examination;
b. obtain the opinion of the director of resources of the directorate-general in which the official concerned is employed if the examination has been requested at the initiative of the doctor responsible for the Medical Leave Service.

4. The appointing authority may take its decision without conducting the consultations referred to in paragraph 3 of this article in cases where an official has repeatedly been absent for short periods immediately before or after a period of annual leave or a period during which Parliament was closed or where an official has on several occasions been absent for lengthy periods immediately after periods of annual leave. 5. Should the appointing authority decide that a medical examination is required, it shall instruct the doctor responsible for the Medical Leave Service to have the examination performed in accordance with the procedures laid down in these internal rules. It shall communicate its decision to the director of resources of the directorate-general in which the official concerned is employed and to the head of the Medical Service at the place where he/she is employed.

Article 6 - Doctors contracted by Parliament to perform examinations

1. The examinations shall be performed by contracted doctors in no way answerable to Parliament, who have been duly authorised by it. 2. As part of the authorisation procedure, the doctors concerned shall give a written undertaking to inform Parliament of any conflict of interest which may arise, in particular if they are required to examine an official who is one of their regular patients. With a view to ensuring that this undertaking is honoured, the doctor responsible for the Medical Leave Service shall have the right to check details with the Joint Sickness Insurance Scheme. 3. In the case of examinations performed at the place of residence, within the meaning of Article 20 of the Staff Regulations, of officials employed in Brussels, Luxembourg or Strasbourg, the contracted doctors shall be chosen from lists drawn up by selection committees. The doctor responsible for the Medical Leave Service shall put in place an effective system of rotation of the doctors on the lists. 4. The selection committees which draw up the lists of doctors who may be contracted to perform examinations shall comprise the doctor responsible for the Medical Leave Service, a medical officer designated by the Director of Management of Support and Social Services and a representative of the staff, designated by the Staff Committee. Where psychiatrists are to be selected, the Director of Management of Support and Social Services shall also designate from among the psychologists employed by Parliament a psychologist to act as an additional medical officer. The committees shall draw up lists of general practitioners who may be contracted to carry out general medical examinations and of specialists in accordance with Parliament's requirements. In keeping with the nature of each specialism, the lists shall include names of a sufficient number of professionals to guarantee effective rotation of the doctors contracted to perform examinations. The lists shall be valid for two years. 5. In the case of examinations performed away from the place of residence, within the meaning of Article 20 of the Staff Regulations, of officials employed in Brussels, Luxembourg or Strasbourg, the contracted doctors shall be local doctors authorised by the local sickness insurance authorities to perform such examinations. With that aim in view, the doctor responsible for the Medical Leave Service shall liaise with the authorities in question. He/she shall periodically inform the selection committees referred to in this article of the outcome of these contacts and shall provide them with any additional information they request. All examinations performed away from Brussels, Luxembourg or Strasbourg by contracted local doctors authorised by the local sickness insurance authorities to perform such examinations shall be deemed to be properly conducted if they are in accordance with the rules applied by those sickness insurance authorities, the provisions of these internal rules notwithstanding. Should it not be possible to have an examination performed by a contracted doctor within a reasonable time, the examination may, at the request of the appointing authority, be performed by the doctor responsible for the Medical Leave Service.

Article 7 - Performance of the examination

1. The sole purpose of the examination shall be to determine whether the state of physical or mental health of the official concerned is consistent or not with a resumption of work. The doctor contracted to perform the examination may not interfere with the treatment of the official concerned. The official concerned may be examined in the presence of a person of his/her choice. The exercise of this right may not, in any circumstances, delay the performance of the examination. 2. While observing the principle of rotation among the contracted doctors, the doctor responsible for the Medical Leave Service shall select a doctor from the list having regard to the distance between that doctor's practice and the place where the examination is to be performed. The doctor responsible for the Medical Leave Service shall forward to the doctor contracted to perform the examination an authorisation signed by the appointing authority. The authorisation shall indicate the name and professional status of the contracted doctor and the name, forename and staff number of the official to be examined. The doctor responsible for the Medical Leave Service shall provide the contracted doctor with all the information referred to in Article 2(8) of these internal rules which has been submitted by the official concerned. 3. The medical examination shall be performed during the official's period of absence between the hours of 8.30 and 17.30 on a working day, taking due account of the information referred to in Article 2(8) of these internal rules which the official has submitted. 4. The doctor contracted to perform the examination shall be required to use all the means of contacting the official concerned which have been notified to him/her, in particular in the light of the information referred to in Article 2(8) of these internal rules. 5. The doctor contracted to perform the examination shall furnish proof of his/her professional status by producing a business card and the authorisation received from the appointing authority, a copy of which he/she shall give to the official concerned. 6. In principle, the medical examination shall be performed at the official's place of residence, within the meaning of Article 20 of the Staff Regulations, or, at the official's request and if he/she can travel, either at the practice of the doctor contracted to perform the examination or on Parliament's premises, taking into account the information referred to in Article 2(1) and (8) of these internal rules which the official has provided. However, should the circumstances referred to in Article 2(9) of these internal rules apply, the examination shall be performed at the place where the official is staying. 7. On completion of the examination, the contracted doctor shall give the official who has undergone the examination a signed document indicating clearly whether the state of physical or mental health of the official is such as to allow him/her to resume work immediately or whether an additional examination must be performed in accordance with the procedure laid down in Article 8(2) of these rules. The document shall also indicate the date and time of the examination and specify in detail the procedure to be followed in order to challenge the conclusions of the doctor contracted to perform it. The official who has undergone the examination shall be required to countersign the document. 8. On completion of the examination, the contracted doctor shall forward to the doctor responsible for the Medical Leave Service a detailed report on the examination. In order to be admissible, the report must indicate clearly:
a. whether the contracted doctor who performed the examination has concluded that the official may or may not resume work immediately;
b. the medical or psychological considerations which led to that conclusion;
c. if the contracted doctor was unable to reach such a conclusion, the nature of the additional examination which he/she considers necessary;
d. if the official could not be contacted, details of the efforts the contracted doctor made to contact him/her using all the information referred to in Article 2(8) which the official submitted.

9. Should the official not be present at the time arranged for the examination, even though due account has been taken of the information referred to in Article 2(8) which the official submitted, the doctor responsible for the Medical Leave Service shall make a second arrangement for an examination to be performed as soon as possible. Should the official again not be present at the second time arranged for an examination, the doctor responsible for the Medical Leave Service shall send a registered letter inviting him/her to undergo an examination on Parliament's premises in his/her place of employment. 10. If the official denies the doctor contracted to perform the examination access to his/her place of residence, the doctor responsible for the Medical Leave Service shall send a registered letter inviting the official to undergo an examination on Parliament's premises in his/her place of employment. 11. An official who fails to respond to the invitation to undergo an examination on Parliament's premises shall lay himself/herself open to disciplinary measures if, immediately upon receipt of the invitation, he/she failed to give the doctor responsible for the Medical Leave Service a genuine, overriding and verifiable reason for not attending. 12. Parliament shall bear the expenses incurred by the official in travelling to its premises if, pursuant to Article 60(2) of the Staff Regulations, the official has obtained from the appointing authority authorisation to spend a period of sick leave away from his/her place of residence within the meaning of Article 20 of the Staff Regulations, or if the illness or accident occurred when he/she was away from such place of residence.

Article 8 - Consequences of the examination

1. If the doctor contracted to perform the examination concludes that the state of physical and mental health of the official examined is compatible with immediate resumption of work, the official must return to work the same day. However, if he/she is notified by the contracted doctor of the conclusions of the examination after 16.00, he/she shall be required to resume work when Parliament's offices open on the first working day thereafter. If the official examined fell ill or was injured in an accident away from his/her place of residence within the meaning of Article 20 of the Staff Regulations, or if he/she has been authorised to spend a period of sick leave away from that place, he/she must return to work as quickly as possible, and at the latest upon expiry of the travelling time (one-way journey) provided for by the internal rules on special leave. 2. If the doctor contracted to perform the examination concludes that an additional examination is necessary, Parliament shall take the necessary steps to ensure, in so far as possible, that such an examination can be performed within five days. If the additional examination does not take place for reasons not attributable to the official concerned, the official's absence on medical grounds shall be deemed to be justified. 3. The doctor responsible for the Medical Leave Service shall forward:
a. to the appointing authority and to the director of resources of the directorategeneral in which the official concerned is employed, the conclusions of the report, referred to in Article 7(8) of these internal rules, by the doctor contracted to perform the examination;
b. to the medical officer at the place of employment of the official concerned if the official's absence is justified, and with his/her permission, and to the doctor who issued the medical certificate prescribing leave of absence if the official's absence is unjustified, and having first notified the official, the full text of the contracted doctor's report and, if applicable, that of the report on the additional examination and the report by the doctor responsible for the Medical Leave Service.

4. The appointing authority shall inform the sickness insurance scheme of the Member State concerned and the body regulating the medical profession if, over a period of less than one year, the same practitioner has issued three medical certificates concerning which subsequent examinations have concluded that the state of health of the officials concerned was compatible with an immediate return to work.

Section 3 Arbitration

Article 9 - List of independent doctors

1. For the purposes of the application of Article 59(1), fifth subparagraph, of the Staff Regulations, a list containing the names of a sufficient number of general practitioners, and of specialists in accordance with Parliament's requirements, shall be drawn up by agreement between the appointing authority and the Staff Committee. 2. The list shall be established by means of a decision signed jointly by the appointing authority and the Chair of the Staff Committee. It shall be forwarded to the medical officers at the latest by 30 November of the year preceding the year in which it enters into force. 3. As far as possible, the independent practitioners included on the list shall be called upon in rotation, so as to rule out a situation in which the same practitioner is asked to take part in several successive arbitration procedures. However, when choosing the practitioner due account shall be taken of his/her availability to perform the work required quickly and diligently. 4. The medical officer may seek the assistance of the doctor responsible for the Medical Leave Service in liaising with the independent practitioner. 5. The practitioner who has examined an official may not be asked to take part as an independent doctor within the meaning of this article in an arbitration procedure concerning the same period of absence of that official.

Section 4 Periodic examinations of persons drawing an invalidity allowance

Article 10 - Remit of the doctor responsible for the Medical Leave Service

1. In accordance with Article 15 of Annex VIII to the Staff Regulations, the doctor responsible for the Medical Leave Service shall, at the request of the appointing authority, have periodic medical examinations carried out on former officials who are drawing an invalidity allowance and have not reached the age of 63. 2. With that aim in view, the doctor, without disclosing information covered by medical confidentiality, shall inform the appointing authority of the advisability of performing an examination with a view to determining whether a former official still meets the conditions governing payment of the allowance. 3. If it regards such a step as advisable, the appointing authority shall instruct the doctor responsible for the Medical Leave Service to perform a medical examination. 4. At least two weeks prior to the date arranged for the examination, the doctor responsible for the Medical Leave Service shall send the former official concerned an invitation by registered letter with acknowledgement of receipt. 5. In principle, the medical examination shall be performed at the former official's place of residence unless he/she agrees to come to Parliament's premises at one of its three regular places of work. In that event, Parliament shall bear the former official's travel expenses. The former official shall have the right to attend for the examination accompanied by a person of his/her choice. 6. After performing the examination, the doctor responsible for the Medical Leave Service shall draw up an opinion for the appointing authority. 7. If the opinion concludes that the former official no longer meets the conditions governing payment of the invalidity allowance, the appointing authority shall convene the invalidity committee in accordance with the procedures laid down in the applicable rules. 8. If the invalidity committee confirms the opinion of the doctor responsible for the Medical Leave Service, the appointing authority shall take a decision to reintegrate the former official, in accordance with the arrangements laid down in Article 14 of Annex VIII to the Staff Regulations and Articles 33, 102 and 135 of the CEOS.

Section 5 Supervision of the Medical Leave Service and medical examinations

Article 11 - Activity report on examinations performed in connection with absence from work on medical grounds and on persons claiming the invalidity allowance

1. Each quarter, the doctor responsible for the Medical Leave Service shall forward to the appointing authority a report:
a. indicating the number of examinations performed during the reference period and giving the names of the doctors contracted to conduct them. The report shall state how many examinations gave rise to a conclusion that the state of health of the official concerned was compatible with an immediate return to work, how many led to the conclusion that an additional examination was required and how many led to the conclusion that the absence from work on medical grounds was justified. The report shall also indicate how many officials were invited to undergo an examination within the meaning of Article 7(9) and (10) of these internal rules;
b. setting out the priorities for the service for the following quarter and the criteria used to set those priorities.

The doctor responsible for the Medical Leave Service shall take the utmost account of any comments made by the appointing authority concerning the part of his/her reports referred to in subparagraph (b) above. 2. Every six months, the appointing authority shall forward to the Staff Committee a summary of the work carried out in connection with medical examinations, containing the same information as that specified in the previous paragraph. In the month following receipt of that report the Staff Committee may submit comments to the appointing authority concerning, in particular, the criteria and priorities for the following half-year. 3. In September each year, the appointing authority shall forward to the SecretaryGeneral a report on the activities of the Sick Leave Management Service. The report shall indicate, in particular, the criteria and the situations to which priority is given in connection with medical examinations. In the three months following receipt of that report the Secretary-General may, if he sees fit, forward all or part of the report to the directors-general and/or the medical officers.

Article 12 - Storage and protection of and access to data

1. Information shall be stored and access to information shall be provided using appropriate IT resources and, in accordance with the provisions of Regulation (EC) No 45/2001 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 18 December 2000 (OJ L 8 of 12 January 2001) on the protection of individuals with regard to the processing of personal data by the Community institutions and bodies and on the free movement of such data. 2. The information referred to in Article 2(7) of these internal rules shall be kept for a maximum period which covers the time limits for lodging judicial appeals laid down by Articles 90 and 91 of the Staff Regulations and those laid down in the regulations and general conditions governing the performance of the European Ombudsman's duties. 3. Information relating to the examinations referred to in Article 9 of these internal rules shall be kept for a maximum period which covers the entire period of invalidity extended to include the time limits for lodging judicial appeals laid down in Articles 90 and 91 of the Staff Regulations and those laid down in the regulations and general conditions governing the performance of the European Ombudsman's duties. This rule shall apply until the official concerned has reached the age of 63. 4. The doctor responsible for the Medical Leave Service shall grant the officials concerned access to their personal data held by Parliament. However, by virtue of their nature, the doctor responsible for the Medical Leave Service shall forward certain items of information to a practitioner bound by the rules on medical confidentiality designated by the official concerned. That doctor shall pass on the information, in the form which he/she considers appropriate, to the official concerned. 5. Medical reports drawn up in accordance with these internal rules shall be confidential. They may be forwarded only to persons bound by medical confidentiality. However, medical confidentiality shall not exempt the holders of such information from their obligation to forward all relevant details to the Community courts, so as to enable the latter to verify the lawfulness of the conclusions drawn up on the basis of such reports. 6. In all written correspondence, the doctor responsible for the Medical Leave Service shall indicate that he/she is acting in that capacity by adding his/her official title below his/her signature. In all duty-related telephone calls, the doctor responsible for the Medical Leave Service shall identify himself/herself by indicating that he/she is acting in that capacity.

Section 6 Final provisions

Article 13 - Entry into force

1. These internal rules shall take effect on the day that they are signed and shall be posted on Parliament's intranet site. 2. The internal rules on medical examinations in connection with absence from work on medical grounds and periodic medical examinations of persons claiming the invalidity allowance adopted by the Secretary-General on 4 June 2010 shall be repealed. 3. The Secretary-General may revise these internal rules either on his own initiative or in response to a proposal by the Director-General for Personnel or the Staff Committee.