Occupational health and safety rules for specific employees
In certain cases, special work conditions apply to your employees. For example, for sick, pregnant, and older workers and temporary employees.
Employees who fall ill
Has your employee been on long-term sick leave? Then you and your employee should do as much as possible to get your employee to return to work. There are several ways to get your employee back to work:
- with an adapted workplace
- find other work within your business, your company doctor will help with this
- look for work at another company together
Pregnant employees and women who are breastfeeding
Do you have a pregnant employee? Then you must ensure that there is no danger in the workplace to her and the unborn child. Your employee must be able to work safely and healthily at all stages of pregnancy. What does that mean?
- There must be no risk of impairing the woman's fertility.
- The pregnancy must not be at risk.
- The baby must not be at risk during pregnancy.
Hazardous substances and physical work
Does your pregnant employee work with hazardous substances? Or does your employee have to lift and carry? Then you need to adjust the work. There are legal obligations (in Dutch) for this. Pregnant and breastfeeding workers are not allowed to:
- be exposed to lead and lead compounds
- be exposed to toxoplasma and rubella (the rubella virus)
- work under positive pressure such as diving and caisson work (working in a high-pressure room)
- work in underground extractive industries, such as mines
Duty to inform in case of pregnancy
After your employee has told you she is pregnant, you must give her information within 2 weeks about:
- the possible dangers of work for her and the unborn child
- what you can do together to prevent these dangers
- the right to adjust working and rest times when pregnant (and afterwards). And the right to other (safe) work
- the availability of a specific space on the premises for during pregnancy or breastfeeding
Provide space for breastfeeding
Is your employee breastfeeding, or does she want to pump? If so, you must provide an area that can be closed off.
Risks mandatory in RI&E
You must provide your pregnant employee with information about the risks in good time. Set out the occupational risks in your risk assessment & evaluation (RI&E). Also set out in the plan the additional measures needed to manage these risks.
Information on pregnancy rights and obligations
Clear information about pregnancy and work reduces absenteeism. Read more about the rights and obligations (in Dutch) of your employees who are pregnant or have just had a child. The toolkit Childwish, pregnancy and work (in Dutch) will help you inform employees.
Older employees
With all employees you must take into account what they are capable of. This is even more important for older employees (in Dutch). You should pay extra attention if your older employee has to deal with:
- high time pressure
- heavy physical load
- rapidly developing technology
- irregular working hours and shifts
Is the work becoming too demanding for your employee? Then consider adapting the work or the working environment. You must start looking for alternative tasks and roles in time. You should prepare your employee for the possibility of other work.
Temporary workers
If you hire temporary workers, the main responsibility (in Dutch) for health and safety lies with you. So, you must:
- ensure a safe workplace and good working conditions
The temp agency must inform the temporary worker of any possible risks in the workplace.
New rules for reporting accidents
On 1 July 2027, new rules for reporting workplace accidents will come into force. If a serious or fatal workplace accident involving a temporary worker occurs, the following rules apply:
- Report the accident immediately to the Netherlands Labour Authority and to the temporary employment agency.
- The temporary employment agency must also report the accident to the Netherlands Labour Authority.
- The temporary employment agency will check whether you have taken sufficient measures to ensure safe working conditions. This is known as the duty to verify.
The effective date of this change is not yet final.
Employees with a disability
Do you want to retain or employ an employee with a disability or partial incapacity for work? There are various schemes in place to support this:
- allowances to adapt facilities (in Dutch), such as an adapted toilet, a stair lift, or an adapted workplace.
- a subsidy to purchase technology that helps employees with an occupational disability participate in the labour market. Examples include reading glasses or an exoskeleton that relieves employees when performing physical work.
- You may also sometimes be eligible for tax relief or grants to reduce your wage costs.