If your employee falls ill, you must inform your occupational health physician (‘bedrijfsarts’) or occupational health and safety service (‘arbodienst’). Together, you will start a return-to-work plan. If your employee is still ill after approximately 42 weeks, you need to report their long-term illness (’42-weeksmelding’).
After 1 year and 8 months of illness, we will send your employee information about applying for a WIA benefit. If you expect your employee to be fully fit for work again, you can extend their sick pay (‘verlenging loondoorbetaling’). The minimum extension of sick pay is 13 weeks. There is no maximum duration. If your employee qualifies for a WIA benefit, the period you continued to pay their salary will be deducted from your 10-year responsibility for their income.
To extend your employee’s sick pay, complete the Applying for extended sick pay form (‘Aanvragen verlenging loondoorbetaling WIA’).
Please note: Do this before your employee applies for the WIA benefit. You can no longer apply for extended sick pay once we have decided on the benefit or paid an advance.
Once your employee applies for a WIA benefit, we evaluate their situation and ability to work. We also evaluate if you and your employee have put in enough effort to ensure their successful return to work.
If your employee or former employee qualifies for a WGA benefit, we will share the following information with you:
- the start date of the benefit
- the level of the benefit, including a calculation
- the obligations of your employee or former employee
- the amount you have to pay
The amount you have to pay depends on the kind of WGA benefit your employee or former employee is entitled to:
- salary-linked benefit (‘loongerelateerde uitkering’)
- income top-up benefit (‘loonaanvullingsuitkering’)
- earning capacity incentive benefit (‘vervolguitkering’)
- reinstatable supplementary benefit (‘garantie-uitkering’)
You can pay the benefit directly to your employee or former employee, or we will pay the benefit and invoice you for it.
Partial payment
If your employee or former employee had more than 1 employer on their first day of illness, you will only pay part of the WGA benefit. The part of the WGA benefit you are responsible for is based on the number of hours they worked for you.
No payment
You do not have to pay the WGA benefit in the following situations:
- Your employee falls ill after they are hired but before they start work.
- Your future employee is already receiving an occupational disability benefit.
- Your employee or former employee is entitled to a sickness benefit (Ziektewet-uitkering).
- Your employee or former employee is receiving a WAZ or a Wajong benefit.
As a self-insured employer, you and your employee or former employee will continue working on their return-to-work plan while they are receiving the WGA benefit. We offer financial support schemes if your employee needs extra support to do their work, such as adjustments to the workplace.
If the return-to-work plan is not going the way it should, you can seek advice from your occupational health physician, occupational health and safety service or return-to-work service provider (‘re-integratiebedrijf’). You can also ask a mediator for help.
If you and your employee cannot resolve your issues, you can seek an expert opinion (‘deskundigenoordeel). This opinion can help you and your employee or former employee work together on their return-to-work plan. Keep in mind that an expert opinion is not binding in any way.
If your employee or former employee is not putting in enough effort to return to work, you can temporarily suspend or reduce their WGA benefit. This is called a sanction (‘maatregel’). You need to inform us about this.
You can only impose a sanction if you meet the following requirements:
- The person in charge of posing a sanction can assess the situation objectively.
- You inform your employee or former employee in writing about the sanction and why it is imposed.
- Your employee or former employee has access to all relevant documents.
- You have an objections and complaints policy in place.
If there are any changes in your circumstances, you need to report them to us. If there are any changes in the circumstances of your employees or former employees, they need to report them to us.
Examples of a change in circumstances are:
- a change in income
- a recurring illness
- an attachment of benefits order (‘beslaglegging op de uitkering’)
- a change of employer
Please note: If your employee is changing or has changed employers, you remain responsible for their WGA benefit for 10 years.
If your employee or former employee dies, the local council (‘de gemeente’) will inform us. The WGA benefit stops the day after death. We evaluate whether the surviving relative qualifies for a bereavement support payment (‘overlijdensuitkering’). If they do, you are responsible for paying this benefit which will be equivalent to one month’s gross WGA benefit.
We will inform you of any changes to your employee's or former employee’s WGA benefit.
Your employee or former employee may fall ill again after their WGA benefit has ended. If we decide they qualify for the WGA benefit again, you are once more responsible for paying the benefit and managing their return-to-work plan.
If the cause of illness is the same and their previous WGA benefit ended less than 5 years ago, the remaining time you have to pay the WGA benefit is 10 years minus the period with the WGA benefit and the period without it. So, if for 2 years, your employee or former employee received a WGA benefit and for 1 year they did not, you will have to continue paying their benefit for another 7 years.
If the cause of illness is different, you start over. For 2 years, you work with your employee on a return-to-work plan and pay their salary. If, after 2 years, your employee qualifies for a WIA benefit, you will have to pay it for up to 10 years.
If your employee‘s or former employee’s health improves or worsens, it can affect their ability to work. You, your insurance company or another authorised organisation can request a WIA benefit reassessment (‘Aanvragen herbeoordeling WIA) from us.
If you acquire a company as a self-insured employer, you become responsible for any employees within that company who are receiving a WGA benefit. This is the case regardless of whether the company was previously self-insured or not.
If you partially acquire a self-insured company, it will retain its status.
If you partially acquire a company that is not self-insured, you will assume 50 per cent responsibility for the WGA benefit of all employees, including those you do not hire. You will contribute based on your share of the company’s total gross pay (‘loonsom’) before the acquisition.
You can stop being self-insured for the WGA benefit, or it may end automatically. The benefit run-off liability (‘uitlooprisico’) is yours in both cases.
If you decide to stop, you need to inform the Dutch Tax and Customs Administration (‘Belastingdienst’) by completing the Stopping as a self-insured employer for the WGA benefit form (‘Beëindiging Eigenrisicodragerschap voor de WGA’).
If any of the following happens to you, you are automatically no longer a self-insured employer:
- Your bank or insurance company withdraws their guarantee.
- You are declared bankrupt.
- You are in a personal debt restructuring scheme (‘Wet schuldsaneringsregeling natuurlijke personen’).
- You are no longer an employer.
Please note: If your bank or insurance company withdraws their guarantee, it will not stop automatically. It remains valid under the following combination of conditions:
- The employee fell ill before the date of withdrawal.
- The employee was working for you on their first day of illness.