Prava zaposlenika u Nizozemskoj zbog bolesti: plaća i reintegracija

If you cannot work because of illness in the Netherlands, your employer must continue to pay at least 70% of your wages for up to 104 weeks, and in the first 52 weeks at least the statutory minimum wage (Article 7:629 of the Dutch Civil Code, BW). The main exception: an employee who obstructs recovery or refuses suitable work without good reason loses that right for the period concerned (Article 7:629(3) BW).

This article follows the process in the order you meet it, from the sick report to the WIA decision, and explains your rights, your obligations and what to do if you disagree with the company doctor. Many collective labour agreements (cao) pay more than the statutory minimum, often 100% in the first year.

What should you do when you report sick?

Report sick in the way your employer prescribes, usually in the employment contract or the absence policy. From that moment you are entitled to continued payment of wages and to protection of your medical privacy.

Your employer may ask how long you expect to be absent, how you can be reached and whether someone else may be liable, for example after an accident. Your employer may not ask about the nature or cause of your illness: only the company doctor (bedrijfsarts), who is bound by medical confidentiality, assesses that.

What is the role of the company doctor?

The company doctor assesses whether you are unable to work and advises what you can still do and which steps are needed to return. The doctor reports to the employer in terms of capabilities and limitations, not diagnosis.

You must attend the doctor’s appointments, follow reasonable advice and stay reachable. If you disagree with the assessment, you can ask for a second opinion from another company doctor, or ask the UWV for an expert opinion (deskundigenoordeel).

How much of your wages will you receive?

At least 70% of your wages for 104 weeks, up to the statutory maximum daily wage, and at least the minimum wage in the first 52 weeks (Article 7:629(1) BW). For high earners the statutory amount is therefore less than 70% of their actual salary.

Check your cao or contract for a higher percentage; a common arrangement is 100% in the first year and 70% in the second, sometimes linked to good cooperation with reintegration. Under Article 7:629(3) BW the employer may stop paying for the period in which you obstruct your recovery, refuse suitable work without good reason or do not cooperate with the plan of action.

Do you accrue holiday during illness?

Yes. Statutory holiday, four times your weekly working hours per year, accrues in full during illness, and holiday allowance of at least 8% accrues on the wages paid. For extra holiday days above the statutory minimum, check your cao or contract.

How does reintegration work?

Reintegration follows a fixed timetable under the Gatekeeper Improvement Act (Wet verbetering poortwachter). Employer and employee work together, with the company doctor as adviser and the UWV as supervisor.

• Week 6: the company doctor draws up a problem analysis.
• Week 8: employer and employee agree a plan of action (plan van aanpak).
• Week 42: the employer reports the absence to the UWV.
• Week 52: first-year evaluation.
• No later than week 89: the UWV informs you in writing that you can apply for WIA benefit.
• No later than week 93: you apply for WIA benefit, eleven weeks before the 104 weeks end.

What do track 1 and track 2 mean?

Track 1 is a return to your own job or other suitable work with your own employer. Track 2 is work with another employer, which must start when a return within the organisation is not realistic, usually around the first-year evaluation, often with a reintegration agency.

Can wage payment continue after 104 weeks?

Yes, if the UWV imposes a wage sanction (loonsanctie). If the employer made insufficient reintegration efforts without good reason, the UWV extends the wage payment period by up to 52 weeks (Article 25(9) WIA).

A sanction typically follows a missing or inadequate plan of action, or a second track started too late. If the employer remedies the shortcomings, it can ask the UWV to end the sanction earlier.

Što se događa nakon dvije godine bolesti?

The employer’s obligation to pay wages ends and the UWV assesses your entitlement under the Work and Income (Capacity for Work) Act (WIA). Your employment contract does not end automatically.

You apply with the reintegration report you and your employer built up. A UWV insurance doctor (verzekeringsarts) and labour expert (arbeidsdeskundige) assess what work you can still do and what you could earn. You can object to the decision within six weeks (Article 6:7 of the General Administrative Law Act, Awb).

• Less than 35% incapacitated: no WIA benefit.
• WGA: 35% to 80% incapacitated, or fully but not permanently incapacitated.
• IVA: at least 80% and permanently incapacitated.

Which special situations should you know about?

A temporary contract, an on-call contract, a conflict with your employer or pregnancy-related illness each change the picture.

• Temporary contract: wage payment ends when the contract ends; the employer reports you to the UWV and you can then receive sickness benefit under the Sickness Benefits Act (Ziektewet).
• On-call contract: after three months, your average working hours over the previous three months are presumed to be your agreed hours (Article 7:610b BW), which can raise your continued pay.
• Sukob: if reintegration is deadlocked, ask the UWV for an expert opinion on your capacity, suitable work or the employer’s efforts. The opinion is not binding but carries weight.
• Pregnancy-related illness: the UWV pays sickness benefit to the employer, which passes it on to you.

Can you be dismissed while ill?

In principle no: under Article 7:670 BW the employer may not give notice during the first two years of illness. The prohibition does not apply if the illness began after the UWV received a dismissal request, or if the whole business closes.

Instant dismissal for an urgent reason, termination by mutual consent and the end of a fixed-term contract on its agreed date also remain possible. Persistent refusal to cooperate with reintegration, after wages have been stopped, can lead to a dismissal request to the UWV.

Što biste trebali provjeriti kao zaposlenik?

Your rights depend on the documents and your own cooperation.

• What percentage does your cao or contract pay in the first and second year?
• Has a plan of action been drawn up by week 8, and do you agree with it?
• Do you disagree with the company doctor? Ask for a second opinion or a UWV expert opinion.
• Is your employer starting track 2 in time?
• Before signing a settlement agreement during illness: what does it mean for your sickness benefit?

Što biste trebali provjeriti kao poslodavac?

Most wage sanctions result from missed steps in the first year.

• Is the company doctor involved promptly and is the problem analysis ready by week 6?
• Is the plan of action agreed by week 8 and evaluated regularly?
• Have you reported the absence to the UWV in week 42?
• Is track 2 started when a return within the organisation is not realistic?
• Do you avoid asking about the nature of the illness?

What can we do for you with sickness and continued pay?

Naši odvjetnici za zapošljavanje advise employees and employers, in English and Dutch.

• We check whether your wages are paid correctly under the law and your cao.
• We assess the plan of action and the reintegration report.
• Pripremamo zahtjev za stručno mišljenje UWV-a.
• We challenge a wage suspension or a wage sanction.
• We review a settlement agreement offered during illness.

Rezime

• Your employer pays at least 70% of your wages for up to 104 weeks, and at least the minimum wage in the first year (Article 7:629 BW).
• Your employer may not ask about the nature of your illness; only the company doctor assesses it.
• Reintegration follows a fixed timetable, with a WIA application no later than week 93.
• Insufficient reintegration efforts can cost the employer up to 52 extra weeks of wages.
• Notice during the first two years of illness is in principle prohibited (Article 7:670 BW).

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