Sick pay: continued payment of wages

If you own a company in the Netherlands and one of your employees becomes ill, you are required to pay at least 70% of their wages for up to 2 years.  You must also help your employee to go back to work (reintegration).

Which employees do you have to pay?

You must continue to pay wages during illness to:

• employees on a permanent contract
• employees on a fixed-term contract
• on-call employees (both those on fixed-hours and zero-hours contracts)

Sickness benefit for continued payment of wages

In some cases you can apply for sickness benefits (Ziektewetuitkering) for your employee to the Employee Insurance Agency UWV. In most cases UWV will pay this benefit (100% of the daily wages) directly to you. Then you continue to pay the employee’s wages. The benefit helps you cover the wage costs.

You can apply for a sickness benefit if your employee is ill because of, for example:

• pregnancy or childbirth
• organ donation

Or if your employee:

• is covered by the no-risk policy (no-riskpolis). For example if they have a work-limiting disability, such as someone on a WIA, WAO, WAZ, or Wajong benefit
• falls under the compensation scheme for older employees (in Dutch) 
• works flexibly (is on an agency contract, on-call contract, zero-hours contract, is a trainee or an intern, or a freelancer)
• has reached state pension age (AOW pension age) 

How much to pay

If your employee is ill, you should pay their wages for at most 2 years:

• During the first year and second year of illness you pay 70% of the employee's normal wages. 
• If the amount is less than the minimum wage, you should supplement it up to the minimum wage amount in the first year. You do not have to do so during the second year.
• You also have to pay at least 70% of all wage components your employee would have received normally when they were not ill. For instance overtime, personal allowances, and other benefits.

If your employee is off sick because of organ donation, pregnancy or giving birth, you have to pay 100% of their normal wages.

On-call employees

For employees on a zero-hours contracts or a zero-hours contract with a preliminary agreement you must continue to pay if the employee falls ill during a call-up period (in Dutch). You continue to pay until the on-call period ends. 

End of contract during illness

Does your employee's contract come to an end while they are ill? If the employee has been ill for less than 2 years, you have to report their illness to UWV on the last day of their contract. As soon as the contract ends you no longer have to pay their wages. You can apply for a sickness benefit for your employee to UWV (in Dutch). 

AOW age employees

If your sick employee is older and entitled to old age pension (AOW), you must continue to pay at least 70% of their normal wages. If that amount is lower than the minimum wage, you need to supplement it. You must continue to pay their wages for 6 weeks. After 6 weeks of illness, you may dismiss the employee. You may also choose to keep your employee on and continue to pay their wages voluntarily.

Does your sick employee, who has reached state pension age, not have an employment contract, or is their contract ending? In some cases, you can apply to UWV for a sickness benefit for your employee.

Ending payment after 2 years of illness

Is your employee still sick after 2 years? You no longer have to continue to pay wages. You are allowed to end the employment contract. The employee may be eligible for a benefit under the Work and Income (Capacity for Work) Act (Wet werk en inkomen naar arbeidsvermogen, WIA, in Dutch). 

Returning to work

You must consult with the employee about their returning to work (reintegration obligation). Your employee must cooperate with these efforts. Within the two-year period, you have the option of temporarily discontinuing payment of wages if they do not cooperate sufficiently. Insufficient cooperation can even serve as grounds for dismissal.