Employers to get clarity on replacing sick employee sooner

What changes?

Do you run an SME and is one of your employees ill? In future you will know sooner until when you need to keep a sick employee’s workplace available. This way you can start looking for a replacement for the sick employee sooner.

In the first 2 years of illness you and your employee must work together to ensure your employee can work again (reintegration obligation). From the start of the 2nd year of illness, you will get the option to focus solely on reintegration in the second track. This means that your employee will start working for another employer. Your employee must agree to this, or the Employee Insurance Agency (UWV) must give permission.

This proposal is one of the agreements from the broad labour market package of April 2023.

For whom?

• small and medium-sized entrepreneurs with staff
• reintegration companies
• company doctors and occupational health and safety services
• absenteeism insurers

When?

It is not yet known when this change will come into force.

Please note: The effective date of this measure is not yet final. Entry into force is subject to its passing through the upper and lower houses of parliament or proclamation of the Order in Council (Algemene Maatregel van Bestuur, AMvB) or ministerial decree and publication in the Staatsblad or Staatscourant (Government Gazette, in Dutch).