The WIA benefit for your employee
Is your employee not able to work after 2 years of illness? And have you done enough to reintegrate them? Then your employee will receive a WIA benefit from the Employee Insurance Agency (UWV). From that moment on, you no longer have to pay (full) wages. Read about the transition payment and other relevant rules.
What is a WIA benefit?
WIA is a Dutch abbreviation for the Work and Income (Capacity for Work) Act. It is an income for your employee in case of (partial) incapacity for work. Your employee gets a WIA benefit if they are at least 35% incapacitated for work after 2 years.
When is someone eligible for a WIA benefit?
Your employee is eligible for a WIA benefit in 2 situations:
- your employee cannot work or must work less due to health reasons
- your employee can earn only 65% or less of their previous salary due to health reasons
Types of WIA benefit
There are 2 types of WIA benefit provided by UWV.
- IVA (the Fully Disabled Persons Scheme, or Inkomensvoorziening Volledig Arbeidsongeschikten, in Dutch). Your employee qualifies for IVA if they can only earn 20% or less of their old wage, and if there is little or no chance of this changing in the future.
- WGA (the Return to Work for Partially Disabled Persons Scheme or Werkhervatting Gedeeltelijk Arbeidsgeschikten, in Dutch). Your employee may qualify for WGA benefits if they have been off sick for 2 years or more and will be able to work more in the future. This applies if your employee can earn 65% or less of their old pay while working.
UWV decides which benefit your employee will receive.
Self-insurer
You can also pay your employee's WGA benefit. Then you will pay less in contributions to UWV. And your business becomes responsible for helping your employee get back to work. (reintegration). This is called a self-insurer for the WGA (eigenrisicodrager). You are then responsible for the reintegration of your employee for 10 years. That is from the moment your employee receives the WIA benefit. If your business goes bankrupt, your insurer or UWV will take over the reintegration process.
Read more about self-insurer for the WGA (in Dutch)
When does your employee apply for a WIA benefit?
Does your employee remain ill for a long time? And is it impossible for them to return to work? Then your employee must apply for a WIA benefit. After 88 weeks, you and your employee will receive a letter from the UWV to apply for a WIA benefit. Your employee must apply for the WIA within 6 weeks of receiving the letter.
Is it clear that your employee cannot work now and will not be able to work in the future? In that case, the company doctor, occupational health and safety service, or insurance doctor will advise you to apply for WIA early (in Dutch).
If you expect your employee to return to full-time work with a little more time for reintegration, you can postpone the WIA application.
Read what steps to take when your employee is on long-term sick leave (in Dutch).
Provide all documentation
To apply for WIA benefits, your employee will need specific data and all documents about their return-to-work plan. Please ensure that your employee receives a copy of all documents from the return-to-work report well before the deadline. Your employee can upload the documents, or you can do so through the UWV employer portal (werkgeversportaal, in Dutch)
When is WIA not paid after 2 years of illness?
Is your employee is less than 35% incapacitated for work? They can earn at least 65% of their old salary. Your employee will not receive a WIA benefit in this case. An additional unemployment benefit or social assistance benefit is sometimes possible. Your employee will remain in employment and you will look together at how your employee can continue to work. Can your employee no longer do their old job? Then you must offer the employee suitable work.
There are also other situations in which your employee will (temporarily) not receive a WIA benefit (in Dutch).
Assessment of WIA application
If your employee applies for a WIA benefit, UWV will assess if you and your employee have done enough during the first 2 years of illness to get them back to work. You must put all agreements and efforts regarding their reintegration on paper. There are 2 options for the assessment:
Then you may stop paying wages after 2 years. If your employee applied for the WIA benefit too late, you must continue to pay the wages for a longer period. UWV will then send you a letter about this.
You must then continue to pay wages for a maximum of 1 year. You may not dismiss your employee during this period.
Check if you need permission for dismissal
You may dismiss your employee after 2 years of illness. What you need to do depends on the situation:
- Your employee agrees to the dismissal. This is called dismissal by mutual consent. In that case, you do not need permission from UWV. Do check the conditions for dismissal, however, and make sure you put the agreement of the dismissal in writing.
Read more about dismissal afetr 2 years of illness or incapacity (in Dutch)
Pay a transition payment
The dismissal means you must pay your employee a transition payment. You may be able to apply for compensation from UWV for the transition payment.
Benefits and schemes if your employee remains employed
Does your employee receive a WIA benefit, but will they remain employed? Then you may be entitled to subsidies or allowances (in Dutch). For example, for adjustments to their workplace (in Dutch). You can also get part of their wage costs reimbursed if they fall ill again.
Find out which schemes you can use
Are you an employer and do you want to hire an employee? Check which financial schemes are available to you with the Financial CV tool (in Dutch). You will also learn how high your compensation is.