Preventive medical check

What it means

A preventive medical check for work is an examination in which an occupational health physician or a general practitioner assesses whether an employee is medically fit for a specific job. The outcome is a medical fitness opinion, which the employer keeps on file.

It is mandatory mainly for category 3 and 4 risk work under work risk categorisation, for night work, for young workers and for activities where special rules require medical fitness, such as driving or working at height.

There are pre-employment checks before work begins, periodic checks at regular intervals and exit checks when risk work ends. An extraordinary check may be ordered by the public health authority or requested by the employee if they suspect the work is harming their health.

How it works in practice

The employer must arrange and pay for the check. Under a contract with an occupational health service or designated doctors, it sends employees for examination with a description of the work and the risk factors, so the doctor knows what to focus on.

The interval between periodic checks depends on the work category and type of risk. For night workers the Labour Code requires an assessment before assignment and regularly thereafter. When employing young workers, the examination takes place before starting and is repeated at least once a year.

If the doctor finds the employee unfit, the employer may no longer employ them in that job and must offer other suitable work. If none is available, this can be grounds for dismissal, which may give rise to severance pay, especially where the unfitness is linked to an occupational disease.

What to watch out for

The employer learns only the conclusion, fit, fit with restrictions or unfit, not the diagnosis. Health data are a special category of personal data, so medical opinions must be stored securely and made available only to authorised persons.

Neglecting medical checks breaches occupational health and safety and public health rules and can lead to fines. After an accident or occupational disease, a missing check can weaken the employer's position in a compensation dispute, so it helps to keep a schedule of due dates for all employees.