According to a decision by the Council of State, general practitioners can now diagnose burnout in their patients without seeking the opinion of the occupational physician.
- In a ruling dated 28 May, the Council of State ruled that the treating physician does not issue a “certificate of convenience” when he prescribes a work stoppage for professional exhaustion on the sole basis of the patient’s examination.
- Burnout, recognized as a disease in its own right by the World Health Organization (WHO) since 2019, results in symptoms ranging from exhaustion to loss of confidence, even shame, through obsessive and sometimes suicidal thoughts.
- In France, burnout is not classified as an occupational disease in its own right and the occupational origin of burnout can only be recognised on a case-by-case basis. However, the ruling of 28 May changes the situation and is moving towards better recognition of the syndrome as an occupational disease.
In a judgment of May 28ththe Council of State considered that a general practitioner could diagnose an employee with professional exhaustion syndrome, better known as burn-out, without having to go through occupational medicine.
Having heard an appeal in cassation concerning a dispute between an employee and her employer, the country’s highest administrative court ruled that the treating physician did not issue a “certificate of convenience” when he prescribes a work stoppage for burnout based solely on the patient’s examination. That is to say “without having an analysis of the employee’s working conditions, particularly from the occupational physician”.
Towards recognition of burnout as an occupational disease
This court decision, which could set a precedent, therefore means that general practitioners are fully entitled to prescribe sick leave for burnout to their patients, without fear of being sanctioned. The phenomenon is widely documented: burnout syndrome, recognized as a disease in its own right by the World Health Organization (WHO) since 2019, results in symptoms ranging from exhaustion to loss of confidence, even shame, through obsessive and sometimes suicidal thoughts.
In France, burnout is not classified as an occupational disease in its own right and the occupational origin of burnout can only be recognized on a case-by-case basis. However, the ruling of May 28 changes the situation and goes in the direction of better recognition of the syndrome as an occupational disease. The news was welcomed by medical federations, tired of their expertise being questioned by employers, sometimes in court, explained France Culture June 4, 2024.
2.5 million people suffer from burnout in France
Some specialists nevertheless point out the contradictions in the decision of the Council of State. “What we must be very careful about is that the treating physician will be able to diagnose burnout based on the employee’s state of health, but he will not be able to intervene on the causes of this burnout.”underlines Me Justine Godey, from the firm La Garanderie Avocats, in the columns of Figaro. Indeed, if the treating physician can indeed diagnose burnout, it is up to the occupational physician to examine the causes of this diagnosis and the working conditions in the company, then to act accordingly.
In France, health authorities estimate the number of employees at 480,000 people “psychological distress” at work. Among them, 7% would suffer from burnout, or some 30,000 people. Another studycarried out in 2022 by OpinionWay for the Empreinte Humaine firm, reveals a much more worrying figure: 34% of employees are said to be burned out, including 13% with severe burnout, or 2.5 million people.