Administration/Sick and maternity leave: The hunt against abuse is organized
The Head of Government wants to put an end to the excesses tainting sickness and maternity leave in the public administration. Abuses such as benefiting from sick leave and engaging in lucrative activities, or presenting medical certificates of convenience to afford exceptional holidays. A new system will come into force from June 01 onwards, the goal being to provide a better framework for the procedure for requesting leave for reasons of illness or maternity, to ensure the continuity of public service, and to preserve the interests of users and the rights of beneficiaries. According to a long circular, sent on May 17 by the Head of Government to ministers, high commissioners and general delegates, the procedure for requesting authorization will now have to be carried out entirely through an electronic portal. The platform will be put online by the Ministry of Health and will target public administrations, local authorities, and public institutions. The institutions concerned will have to switch to the new mechanism gradually, but by January 01, 2025 at the latest, everyone will have to switch.
The Ministry of Health will soon distribute a circular concerning the modus operandi, the administrative support system, a call center, as well as an email address for information requests. In the meantime, the provisions described in Circular No. 16/2020 dated January 19, 2020 remain in force.
Sick leave documents will need to be converted to an electronic medium, such as PDF, and submitted to the health counsel, or to the prefectural medical commission. The sick leave documents must bear an electronic signature in accordance with the provisions of Law No. 43-20 relating to trust services for electronic transactions and all provisions likely to secure the reliability of data. The services concerned are also called upon to archive via the new electronic platform all documents relating to sick leave for control purposes.
Regarding pregnant women, public administrations must authorize them to take their maternity leave four weeks before delivery to avoid any complications due to their continued employment. Pregnant women must present medical certificates at the 3rd, 6th, and 8th month of pregnancy, specifying the presumed date of delivery. Failing this, they will lose all their rights to maternity leave (provided for in Article 18 of decree 2.99.1219) in the event of the birth of a stillborn baby or miscarriage, leave being granted by the way from the 7th month of pregnancy onwards.
Hassan EL ARIF
