Illness and reporting sick in the Netherlands

Report your illness to your employer or manager on the first day, before work begins if possible, in the way agreed in your company, which is usually a phone call, not a message.

• Say that you are ill and how long you expect to be absent, and there is no need to state the diagnosis, which is confidential.
• The company has no right to ask you for details of your illness.
• Make sure the employer knows where you can be reached and what urgent tasks someone else can take over.
• You usually do not need a medical certificate from your GP, since the assessment passes to the company doctor.
• On recovery report your return date too.

The employer must continue paying at least seventy per cent of your wage for up to 104 weeks (two years), with no less than the minimum wage in the first year, and most collective agreements (cao) grant one hundred per cent in the first year and seventy per cent in the second.

• Read your contract and collective agreement.
• Temporary workers, those whose contract has ended or the unemployed are paid by the Employee Insurance Agency (UWV) sickness benefit (Ziektewet) at about seventy per cent.
• Annual leave continues to accrue during illness also under the provisions of the law.

The employer appoints a company doctor or occupational health service (arbodienst) who assesses your ability to work, and may call you for an interview.

• The company doctor is independent and bound by confidentiality and does not tell the employer the diagnosis, but what you can and cannot do. Together you draw up a problem analysis (probleemanalyse) within six weeks, then a return plan (plan van aanpak) including gradual work or adapted tasks.
• It is your duty to attend the appointments and cooperate, otherwise part of your wage may be suspended.
• If you disagree with the doctor's opinion you may request a second opinion from UWV free of charge.

If illness continues until near the end of the two years, UWV assesses your ability to work and decides your entitlement to the work incapacity benefit (WIA), which is full or partial.

• You may be offered other tasks suited to your condition even in another company.
• At this stage do not neglect to document every step and correspondence.
• Free or low-cost advice bodies exist such as trade unions and legal aid offices.
• If you believe the employer is not meeting his duties you can lodge a complaint or request an expert opinion (deskundigenoordeel) from UWV.
• If the illness is caused by work you have additional rights.

A pregnant woman has maternity leave rights (zwangerschapsverlof) and a benefit that gives full pay during the leave from UWV, and protection from dismissal.

• If your contract is temporary and ended during your illness UWV pays the sickness benefit instead of the employer.
• If you feel work conditions cause illness talk to the employer or the employee representation (ondernemingsraad).
• If you feel exhaustion or psychological pressure (burn-out) do not wait, since it is a recognised illness that deserves attention.
• Ask for the support of your doctor and the company doctor.
• And you are always entitled to information about your rights from your union.

When do you report your illness?