Hospitalisation leave

The Social Chamber of the Supreme Court, in a judgment of 6 May 2025, clarifies that hospitalisation leave ends when the patient is medically discharged, even if this happens before the 5 days have elapsed

Discharge from hospital and medical discharge are not equivalent concepts for the purposes of leave to care for family members, which can still be taken after discharge from hospital as long as the family member has not recovered.

Interpreting it otherwise would make it pointless to allow this leave to be taken in separate periods, since it could not be taken after medical discharge. Since a hospital stay may be prolonged, and once the patient has been discharged from hospital without medical discharge, home care during convalescence may also be prolonged, an employee taking this leave may split it and care for their family member both in hospital and at home, provided that medical discharge has not been issued.

However, what is not possible is taking the leave once the family member has recovered, that is, after medical discharge, because the leave would then lack any justification. It makes no sense for the carer to remain on five days' leave while the family member has returned to work, the Chamber stresses.

Medical discharge vs. discharge from hospital

In this case, the collective agreement provides for five days' leave for the hospitalisation or serious illness of relatives, which may be taken in separate periods. As explained, this provision requires a distinction between discharge from hospital and medical discharge, because the former does not automatically end the leave unless it is accompanied by medical discharge. Discharge from hospital means the patient no longer needs to be admitted, but it does not rule out the need for home care and outpatient treatment.

And to prevent the leave from being used for improper purposes – such as enjoying a few days off when the sick relative has already recovered or is even back at work – the key lies not in discharge from hospital, which in itself does not rule out caring for the relative, but in medical discharge, as this is the point that shows that the underlying reason for the leave, namely the family member's illness, no longer exists.

Normally, discharge from hospital is not accompanied by medical discharge. Healthcare usually continues at the patient's home, but where medical discharge is issued in addition to discharge from hospital before the maximum period of five days has elapsed, the justification for the leave – caring for the hospitalised relative – disappears.

Following this clarification, the Supreme Court upholds the collective dispute claim and declares that workers are entitled to the five days' leave established in the company's collective agreement in cases of hospitalisation or serious illness of a spouse or relatives up to the second degree by blood or marriage, subject to prior notice and subsequent proof of hospitalisation, without prejudice to that entitlement ending before its maximum period due to the medical discharge of the spouse or relative.