In many countries, employees submit a medical certificate in the event of illness. In the Netherlands, no general practitioner issues such a certificate. Employees simply report sick to their employer themselves. The employer must monitor the course of the illness in consultation with the company doctor or the occupational health and safety service (arbodienst), such as Interfisc.

In the event of illness of one of your employees, the guidelines in the Netherlands differ enormously from those in surrounding countries. As an employer in the Netherlands, you are obliged to play an active role in accompanying the sick employee.

This role for the employer will also become increasingly important in the Netherlands in the coming years. Preventing sickness-related absences and reducing employee absences is partly the responsibility of the employer. In addition, the law (Eligibility for Permanent Incapacity Benefit Restrictions Act or the Wet Verbetering Poortwachter) imposes a number of administrative obligations that you as the employer must fulfil for a period of at least 104 weeks in case of incapacity for work. Examples include regularly updating an action plan and reporting incapacity for work to the Dutch authorities on time.