Declaration of work disability
You are incapacitated if you are unable to work due to an illness, accident or pregnancy. Don't forget to complete your declaration.
The first step in completing your declaration is to correctly complete and submit the certificate ('Confidential' form).
Request a certificate
You can download the certificate of disability or request it online .
Complete certificate
Complete the document correctly and completely .
- Complete the top section yourself and stick a yellow sticker on the certificate. Please indicate that this concerns the onset of incapacity for work.
- Your doctor must complete and sign the second part in full.
- If you are incapacitated for work for a full week, your doctor must indicate Sunday as the end date.
How do you declare your disability?
Has the certificate been completed by you and your doctor? Then submit your declaration of disability to CM. This can be done online or in writing.
Take a scan or photo of your certificate. Please add it as an attachment to this form .
Send the declaration form via bpost to CM's advising doctor .
- Send the original certificate (not a copy) by post, stating 'Declaration of disability'. The postmark serves as the date of declaration.
- You can also hand over the completed certificate to the advising doctor against receipt.
- Never deposit your tax return in a CM mailbox.
- Are you an employee ? Also provide your employer with a doctor's certificate stating the period of incapacity for work. You can find more information about this in your employment regulations.
Do you live or work abroad? Then other conditions apply.
You live or are staying temporarily in an EU country, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway or Switzerland.
- Or you can have a certificate of incapacity for work completed in Belgium by a doctor and send it to CM's advising doctor.
- Or you can have a certificate of incapacity for work completed by a doctor in your country of residence and send it to CM's advising doctor. This option does not apply to the Netherlands .
You live or are staying temporarily in the Netherlands .
- Or you can file a declaration in the Netherlands with the Employee Insurance Agency (UWV), preferably by telephone on the premium rate number 0900 92 94 from the Netherlands or +31 88 898 20 01 from Belgium. The UWV will check you and forward the medical data to CM's advising doctor.
- Or you can have a certificate of incapacity for work completed in Belgium by a doctor and send it to CM's advising doctor.
You live or are staying temporarily in Albania, Algeria, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Macedonia, Morocco, Montenegro, Serbia, Tunisia or Turkey .
- The declaration must be made to the competent social security institution in your country of residence, preferably within two days. He will check you and forward the medical data to CM's advising doctor.
You live or are staying temporarily in another country .
- Have a certificate of incapacity for work in Belgium completed by a doctor and send it to the CM's advising doctor.
You are socially insured in an EU country, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway or Switzerland .
- Have this form completed by a doctor in Belgium. Send the form to the authority of the country concerned that is competent to assess your entitlement to sickness benefits.
- For Dutch employees living in Belgium, the procedure is laid down in the employment contract. They must report sick to the employer within two days.
You are socially insured in Albania, Algeria, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Macedonia, Morocco, Montenegro, Serbia, Tunisia or Turkey .
- Have this form completed by a doctor in Belgium and send it to CM immediately. CM takes care of an additional medical check and the declaration to the foreign body.
You are socially insured in another country .
- Follow the guidelines you received from your foreign employer and from the social security institution of the country where you are insured.
When to report?
Do you want to avoid a sanction? Then you must notify CM in time if you become incapacitated for work, or if you remain incapacitated for work after your period of recognition. The term depends on your status. You do not have to provide CM with the certificate intended for your employer.
Employees have 28 calendar days to report the illness from the first day of illness. Workers have 14 days to report from the start of their sick day. Different terms apply to childminders, in case of recurrence and for extension.
| First declaration | Extension | |
| Servants | 28 days* | 7 days** |
| Workers | 14 days* | 7 days** |
| Childminders who provide childcare for an umbrella organization such as Child & Family or an OCMW | 7 days** | 7 days** |
In case of recurrence
| 7 days** |
* Calendar days, counting from the first day of illness.
** Calendar days, counting from the day after the onset of the illness or the extension.
Were you admitted to hospital during the reporting period? The period is then extended by the number of hospitalization days.
Permanently appointed civil servants do not have to report to CM. There is a specific arrangement for them. Ask your employer for more information.
Report it to CM within 7 calendar days from the first day of illness.
| First declaration | Extension | |
| Unemployed and other persons who are not (more) work at the start of the disability (e.g. interim workers whose contract is expiring). | 7 days* | 7 days* |
In case of recurrence
| 7 days* |
* Calendar days, counting from the day after the onset of the illness or the extension.
Were you admitted to hospital during the reporting period? The period is then extended by the number of hospitalization days.
Report it to CM within 7 calendar days from the first day of illness.
Important : self-employed people must also have the certificate of incapacity for work completed by a doctor on time. CM cannot pay for days that are more than 14 days in the past from the moment the certificate was drawn up by the doctor.
| First declaration | Extension | |
| Self-employed | 7 days* | 7 days* |
In case of recurrence
| 7 days* |
* Calendar days, counting from the day after the start of the incapacity for work or the extension.
Were you admitted to hospital during the reporting period? The period is then extended by the number of hospitalization days.
Late declaration
If you notify CM too late when filing the first declaration or extension of your disability, you will lose ten percent of the benefit for the period of lateness.
In certain situations you can submit an application to the National Institute for Health and Disability Insurance (Riziv) to have the sanction lifted .
To lift the sanction, you must meet two conditions.
- The loss of income due to the late declaration amounts to more than 25 euros.
- You are in one of the situations below:
The late declaration is the result of force majeure. The following situations are not considered force majeure.
- You did not know that the declaration had to be filed within a certain period.
- You were in good faith.
- You received incorrect information from your employer, your doctor, the hospital, a family member...
- The letter was lost in the post (except in the event of a strike, but CM takes that into account).
You are in a difficult financial situation if the total income of your family in the year before the illness was less than 18,855.63 euros , increased by 3,490.68 euros per additional family member. In this case, you must provide the necessary documents to prove this.
Important : you can only invoke a difficult financial family situation once in a three-year period to have the sanction lifted.
After the declaration
After CM has received your correctly completed declaration, the advising doctor will assess your disability. You will receive that decision in writing. You will also receive the following documents:
- Information sheet : this sheet is used to calculate your benefit. Complete it and return it to CM as soon as possible. This can also be done digitally .
- Blank certificate of incapacity for work : keep this document. You need this to possibly extend your recognition or to file a new declaration if you become ill again.
- Proof of return to work or unemployment : you must complete and sign this if you resume work or unemployment before the end of the recognition period.
