What’s more: during this 2-year period, employers must not only continue to pay the sick employee’s wages in the Netherlands, but they must also play an active role in facilitating the recovery of the sick employee. The employer’s obligations are laid down in Dutch law: Eligibility for Permanent Incapacity Benefit Restrictions Act (Wet Verbetering Poortwachter) also known as the Gatekeeper’s Improvement Act. Employers can hire an occupational health and safety service (arbodienst) or they can hire a company doctor (bedrijfsarts) such as Interfisc-Arbo B.V. to support them in meeting all these obligations. It is even compulsory to hire these expert services for some of the employers’ obligations regarding absenteeism guidance.

Only after 2 years of illness, the Dutch Employee Insurance Agency (Uitvoeringsinstituut Werknemersverzekeringen/UWV) assesses whether an employer and an employee have done enough regarding their reintegration obligations. If this is not the case, the employer runs the risk of a large fine. This means the risk of having to pay another year (maximum) of continued sick pay to the sick employee on top of the 2-year period.

If the employer has met all the obligations of reintegrating a sick employee – with the help of an occupational health and safety service – the employee may have the right to receive government benefits after two years of illness.  However, this does not mean that the employment contract is terminated: it still continues.

The fact that the employment contract continues after 2 years of sick leave, does not mean that the payment of wages (and everything related to the salary including holiday pay etc.) continues as well. This stops after 2 years of sick leave and continued sick pay (unless the Dutch Employee Insurance Agency or UWV has decided that a fine is imposed). This is the reason why an employer sometimes deliberately decides to keep the employment contract dormant.

Once an employee has been on sick leave for 2 years, the employer does have the option to start a procedure to ask permission from the Dutch Employee Insurance Agency (Uitvoeringsinstituut Werknemersverzekeringen/UWV) to terminate the employment contract. The UWV will give permission if it is not likely that the employee will return to work within 26 weeks – whether to the former position or to carry out other work adapted to the situation. Once the employer has received this permission, they can formally terminate the employment contract.