Sick Pay and Reintegration
Short answer
When an employee in the Netherlands is sick, the employer normally continues wage payment for up to 104 weeks. UWV states that the amount is generally at least 70% of wages, although contracts and collective arrangements can be more generous. During that period, employer and employee also have formal reintegration duties. So the Dutch sickness system is not a passive waiting room. It is a structured process with deadlines, documents and consequences if either side does too little.
Who this article is for
This page is for:
- expats on sick leave who need to understand the 104-week timeline
- employees entering long-term illness processes
- workers who are unsure what cooperation is expected from them
- people whose file may later move into Ziektewet or WIA
Start with the 104-week framework
The most important organising fact is the length of the file. Dutch sick-pay and reintegration cases are built around the 104-week framework.
That means:
- the employer usually pays wages for up to 2 years
- the file must be documented along the way
- the process is reviewed rather than ignored
- the case may later move toward WIA if the illness continues
So the first question is always: Where are you in the 104-week timeline?
Without that timeline, it is impossible to judge whether the file is early, mid-stage or close to a WIA handover.
Reintegration is a legal process, not a goodwill project
Many employees hear “reintegration” and think only about “trying to work again someday”. UWV’s reintegration pages show that the Dutch system is much more structured than that.
In practice, reintegration usually includes:
- occupational-health input
- a plan of approach
- evaluation moments
- analysis of suitable work or adapted work
- documentation about what both sides did
That documentation matters because the file is later judged on what actually happened, not on what people thought they informally agreed.
What happens if the employer does too little
UWV can assess the reintegration file and decide that the employer did too little. In that case, UWV can impose a loonsanctie, which means the employer may have to continue wage payment for up to 1 extra year.
That is a major consequence. It is why serious employers build a paper trail and why employees should also keep their own records instead of relying only on HR summaries.
What happens if the employee does too little
Employees also have duties. If the employee does not cooperate with reasonable reintegration steps, there can be consequences for wage payment and for the wider file.
That does not mean an employee has to agree with everything automatically. It means objections should be handled professionally:
- ask for written explanations
- keep medical/privacy boundaries in mind
- document what was proposed and why you objected
- seek appropriate advice if the process stalls
A disagreement is manageable. A silent, undocumented disagreement is much riskier.
When the process stalls
UWV also offers the deskundigenoordeel route when there is a real dispute about whether reintegration efforts or proposed work are reasonable. That tool is important because it creates a structured external view of the dispute.
It is not a magic solution, but it can stop the file from becoming nothing more than employer-versus-employee emails. High-quality case handling means escalating disagreements into a formal route before the file becomes unrecoverable.
Why expats need tighter documentation than average
Expats often face extra complexity:
- Dutch is not always the first language
- family or medical support may be abroad
- travel can complicate availability
- temporary contracts can create anxiety about what happens when employment ends
- people confuse sick-pay rules with later Ziektewet or WIA rules
That is why expats should keep a chronological file with:
- occupational-health advice
- employer proposals
- their own written responses
- meeting summaries
- evaluation documents
- any escalation or deskundigenoordeel request
If the file later leads to WIA, that history still matters.
How this article connects to Ziektewet and WIA
A sickness file does not always stay in the employer-pay lane for the full period. If employment ends while someone is sick, the case can move into Ziektewet. If long-term work capacity remains strongly reduced near the end of the 104-week period, the file can move into WIA.
So this article is the centre of a chain:
- sick pay and reintegration now
- possible Ziektewet if employment ends
- possible WIA if illness remains long-term
That is why the safest method is to manage one continuous file rather than three separate mini-files.
What to do now
- Identify the exact first sick day and calculate your place in the 104-week timeline.
- Keep every occupational-health and reintegration document in one folder.
- Respond to reintegration proposals in writing and keep copies.
- If the process stalls, check whether a deskundigenoordeel is the right next step.
- If employment may end during sickness, prepare for the possible Ziektewet route.
- If recovery looks uncertain near the end of the 104 weeks, start preparing for WIA early.
Common mistakes
- treating sickness leave as a passive period with no formal duties
- assuming only the employer has to document the process
- arguing informally for weeks without recording the disagreement
- waiting too long to escalate a reintegration dispute
- realising too late that the 104-week period is already close to the WIA stage
- forgetting that a contract-end event can shift the file toward Ziektewet