Apply for permission at least 1 month before you start any volunteer work. If you were already doing volunteer work before you became unemployed, you do not need to ask us for permission unless your situation changes.  

Please note: Paid work always takes priority. If you find a paid job that you cannot combine with your volunteer work, you must stop the volunteer work immediately. 

To ask for permission, complete the Apply for permission to do volunteer work while receiving an unemployment benefit form (‘Toestemming vragen voor vrijwilligerswerk met behoud van uw WW-uitkering’). You will need to log in to Mijn UWV using either your DigiD account or a valid European electronic ID (‘Europees erkend inlogmiddel’) to do this. 

Make sure that the organisation where you will volunteer signs the form too. Then upload the signed form to your work folder (‘werkmap’) on Mijn UWV.

If we give you permission to start volunteer work you must report any changes to us, via your work folder on Mijn UWV. 

This includes an increase in the number of hours you volunteer for, or an increase to your volunteer allowance (‘vergoeding vrijwilligerswerk’) for example.  

Please note: If your volunteer allowance increases, you must make sure that it does not go above the maximum amount allowed. 

If you start volunteer work against our permission, we will count this as paid work. In this situation you will need to report your monthly earnings (‘inkomstenopgave’) to us. We will calculate an assumed income (‘fictief inkomen’) and deduct it from your benefit.

If you start volunteer work without applying to us for permission, we may lower your unemployment benefit. You might also receive a fine, and any amount we have overpaid will need to be paid back to us.

Within 1 month of us receiving your form, we will send you a letter with our decision. The letter will tell you whether you can start volunteer work while keeping your unemployment or IOW benefit.