Everyone has to undergo a pre-recruitment medical (well, practically): we explain!

All employers must ensure that their employees are in good health. This is a safety obligation that must be systematically organised before recruitment or, at the latest, before the trial period expires. This is a good way of optimising your onboarding and reassuring your employees.

This obligation is the pre-recruitment medical examination. This is an examination carried out by an authorised health professional to ensure that the employee taken on has no health problems that could prevent him or her from doing the work required.

However, since 1 January 2017, the compulsory pre-recruitment medical examination has been replaced by the information and prevention visit. We explain the similarities and differences!

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What is the pre-recruitment medical examination?

The aims of the medical examination

According to article R 4624-11 of the French Labour Code, the compulsory pre-recruitment medical examination has several objectives:

• it enables the employer to ensure that the employee is medically and physically fit to carry out his work;
• it opens the discussion on possible adjustments or adaptations to the position;
• It informs the employee of the safety risks associated with his or her job and the medical follow-up required;
• it raises the employee's awareness of the various means of prevention to be put in place.

💡For your information: At the end of the visit, the health professional will draw up a fitness form in duplicate, one copy of which will be given to the employee and the other to you (article R 4624-47 of the French Labour Code).

Differences from the information and prevention visit

Since 1 January 2017, in application of the El Khomri law of 8 August 2016, the pre-recruitment medical examination has become the information and prevention visit (VIP). Unlike its predecessor, the main purpose of the VIP is not to ensure that the employee is medically fit.

Its objectives are slightly different:

• It asks the employee about his or her state of health,
• it informs them of any risks to which they may be exposed in the course of their work;
• to make the employee aware of the preventive measures to be taken,
• establish whether the employee's state of health or the risks incurred require the intervention of an occupational physician;
• it informs the employee of the ways in which his or her state of health is monitored by the department and of the possibility, at any time, of receiving a visit from a health professional at his or her request.

☝️ In addition, the information and prevention visit, like the pre-recruitment medical visit, is accompanied by a medical file, drawn up under the authority of the occupational physician (Art. R. 4624-14 of the French Labour Code). This file records the following information in medical confidentiality:

• information relating to the employee's health,
• opinions and requests by health professionals
• exposures to which they have been subjected, etc.

The medical check-up or VIP is compulsory: we tell you everything

Which employees are concerned?

All newly recruited employees on fixed-term or indefinite-term contracts who are not assigned to a job that poses particular risks to their health and safety or that of their colleagues.

The information and prevention visit can be carried out by an associate doctor, an occupational medicine intern or a nurse.

💡 Please note: for employees subject to reinforced medical monitoring, the medical check-up must be carried out prior to recruitment. This applies to

• minors under the age of 18,
• pregnant women
• disabled workers
• employees exposed to certain risks, such as asbestos.

When is the pre-recruitment medical examination/VIP due?

The VIP must be carried out after recruitment or at the latest within 3 months of taking up the position.

👉 In addition, for night workers and employees under the age of 18, this visit must be carried out before they are assigned to the position, i.e. before the trial period.

💡 Note: in view of the current health situation, medical examinations for new recruits carried out before 30 September 2021 may be postponed until one year after their due date, as decided by the occupational physician, except in the case of reinforced medical monitoring (disabled persons, minors, etc.).

How long is the medical check-up/VIP valid for?

Until 1 January 2017, pre-recruitment medical examinations were carried out every 2 years. From now on, the frequency of the information and prevention visit will be determined by the occupational physician, in the light of :

• the employee's working conditions
• the employee's age
• the employee's state of health
• and the occupational risks to which they are exposed.

However, it must be renewed every 5 years.

💡 NB: the period of validity of the VIP is reduced to 3 years for :

• disabled workers
• workers receiving a disability pension,
• night workers.

👉 For temporary employees, the pre-recruitment medical examination may be carried out for up to 3 jobs.

How do I find an occupational medicine organisation?

It is up to the employer to organise the pre-recruitment medical visit/VIP, as it is part of his safety obligation, established by Article R1221-2, 5° of the Labour Code.

They must make an appointment with the inter-company medical service to which they have previously subscribed, of which there are several (AIPALS, Ametra, ACMS, etc.).

The formalities relating to the information and prevention visit are carried out automatically, by means of :

• the Déclaration Préalable à l'Embauche (DPAE),
• Titre Emploi Service Entreprise (TESE),
• or the Chèque emploi associatif (CEA).

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Exceptions to the obligation to undergo a medical examination

Conditions under which a medical examination is not required

The pre-recruitment medical examination is not compulsory for employees who have had one in the 5 years (2 years for high-risk positions) prior to their recruitment if :

• the employee is to occupy the same position, thus presenting the same risks,
• the occupational physician is in possession of the last follow-up certificate or the last notice of fitness,
• no individual measure (adaptation of the workstation, accommodation activities, etc.) or notice of unfitness has been issued in the last 3 years (Article R.4624-15 of the French Labour Code).

💡 To wit: according to Article R 4624-12 of the Labour Code, even if the conditions below are met, you are obliged to arrange a medical examination on recruitment if the occupational physician deems it necessary or if the employee asks you to do so.

Financial penalties

Failure to comply with the safety obligation is punishable by a fine of €1,500 under article R 4745-1 of the French Labour Code.

The employer may also be ordered to pay damages to the employee if the absence of a pre-recruitment medical examination has caused him or her harm.

💡 Please note: repeated refusal by an employee to attend a compulsory medical examination, despite formal warnings, constitutes serious misconduct. This may justify termination of the probationary period or disciplinary dismissal.