No one is exempt from the pre-hiring medical examination (well, practically): we explain!

All employers must ensure that their employees are in good health. This is a safety obligation that must be systematically organized before hiring, or at the latest before the trial period expires. A good point to optimize your onboarding and reassure your employees.

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

But since January 1, 2017, the compulsory hiring medical examination has been replaced by the information and prevention visit. We explain what the similarities and differences are!

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What is the pre-employment medical examination?

Objectives of the medical examination

According to article R 4624-11 of the French Labor Code, the mandatory pre-employment medical examination has several objectives:

• it enables the employer to ensure that the employee is medically and physically fit to perform his or her job;
• it opens the discussion on possible adjustments or adaptations to the workstation;
• it informs the employee of the safety risks associated with his or her position and the medical follow-up required;
• it makes the employee aware of the various means of prevention to be put in place.

💡To know: At the end of the visit, the health professional draws up a fitness sheet in duplicate, one of which is given to the employee and the other to you (article R 4624-47 of the French Labor Code).

Differences from the information and prevention visit

Since January 1, 2017 and in application to the El Khomri law of August 8, 2016, the hiring medical visit has become the information and prevention visit (VIP). Unlike its predecessor, the main purpose of the VIP is not to ensure the employee's medical fitness.

Its objectives are slightly different:

• it asks the employee about his or her state of health,
• informs the employee of any risks to which he/she may be exposed in the course of his/her work;
• to make the employee aware of the preventive measures to be taken,
• establish whether the employee's state of health or the risks involved 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 Labor Code). This file records the following information in the strictest confidentiality:

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

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

Which employees are concerned?

All newly-hired employees on fixed-term or indefinite-term contracts who are not assigned to a position presenting particular risks to their health and safety, or that of their colleagues.

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

💡 Please note: for employees subject to reinforced medical monitoring, the medical check-up must take place prior to hiring. This applies to

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

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

The VIP must be carried out after hiring, 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.

💡 Please note: in view of the current health context, medical examinations for new hires carried out before September 30, 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.).

What is the validity period of the medical visit/VIP?

Until January 1, 2017, pre-employment medical examinations took place every 2 years. From now on, the frequency of the information and prevention visit is determined by the occupational physician, in 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.

💡 Note: 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-employment medical examination can be carried out for up to 3 jobs.

How do I find an occupational medicine organization?

It's up to the employer to organize the hiring medical visit/VIP, as it's part of his safety obligation, established by article R1221-2, 5° of the Labor Code.

He must make an appointment with the inter-company medical service to which he has previously subscribed, of which there are several (AIPALS, Ametra, ACMS...).

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

• 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 of non-obligation

A pre-hiring medical examination is not compulsory for employees who have had one in the 5 years (2 years for high-risk positions) preceding their hiring, if :

• the employee will continue to occupy the same position, thus presenting the same risks,
• the occupational physician is in possession of the most recent follow-up certificate or fitness report,
• 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 Labor Code).

💡 To wit: according to Article R 4624-12 of the French Labor Code, even if the conditions below are met, you are obliged to carry out a pre-employment medical examination if the occupational physician deems it necessary or if the employee requests 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 Labor Code.

The employer may also be ordered to pay damages to the employee if the absence of a pre-employment 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.