The medical examination at the end of the employment relationship is an examination carried out by the Occupational Physician when the employment relationship ends, in order to check the Worker’s health.
Within  Legislative Decree 81/2008, specifically article 41, paragraph 2, letter e, reference is made to the “medical examination upon termination of the employment relationship, mandatory in the cases provided for by law”.
This examination is important because the Occupational Physician assesses the Worker’s health conditions at the end of an activity that exposed them, on behalf of and by reason of their job duties, to health risks, and verifies any consequences that the work activity has caused to their health. For this very reason, this examination is in fact also a valid protection tool for the Employer, not only for the Worker.
Furthermore, from a broader perspective, carrying out an examination after the Worker has performed a task for a long period of time also makes it possible to assess any hazards and health issues that may involve other workers.
In particular, the legislation provides that the medical examination at the end of the employment relationship is mandatory in cases where the Worker has performed duties involving:
- exposure to chemical agents
- exposure to asbestos
- exposure to ionising radiation
And in the event of exposure to other risks?
To date, according to the legislation, there are no other cases in which the end-of-employment medical examination is expressly mandatory. However, there are other cases in which the end-of-employment medical examination is recommended, especially for workers who have performed duties involving:
- exposure to physical agents
- exposure to carcinogenic and mutagenic agents
- biological risk
- other risks (manual handling of loads, vibrations, etc.)
In conclusion, what must the Employer do? In the cases described above, the company must promptly notify the occupational physician before the Worker’s actual termination (resignation, dismissal, retirement, contract expiry, etc.), so that there is sufficient time to organise the end-of-employment examination while the Worker is still employed: if the occupational physician is notified when the Worker has already ended the employment relationship, it will no longer be possible to organise the medical examination.
If the employment relationship has been of very short duration (less than one year), it is always advisable to assess together with your occupational physician the actual need to organise the end-of-employment medical examination.
CSIA remains, as always, available for any further information.
