Work and Income: 2nd year of illness

Conducting and preparing for conversations

Now that you have been ill for a longer period, you will need to have various conversations about work. With your company doctor, the insurance doctor and employment expert from the UWV, or with a reintegration advisor. These conversations are important for you. Therefore, prepare for them well and bring someone with you. Together, you will hear and remember more than you would alone. Explain how you feel and what you can and cannot do. And that this varies from day to day. Do not pretend to feel better than you do. Write a daily log in preparation.

Ensure you know who you are speaking with and what the purpose of the conversation is. If you are unsure, ask the person you are speaking with. The videos below explain how to conduct conversations about work and how the conversation with the company doctor proceeds. You can find more information via the buttons below.

To provide a clear picture of how you are doing, write a daily log. In it, you describe very precisely how your days unfold. You write down what you can and cannot do and how much energy it costs you. You use a daily log in conversations about work. For example, in the conversation with the company doctor, who uses it to assess your capacity for work. It fosters greater understanding of your situation and helps with your reintegration process to enable you to resume work. A daily log can also be very valuable in your conversation with the insurance doctor during the WIA assessment.

To be able to resume your work, you want to focus on your recovery. Because post-COVID symptoms are unpredictable and vary from person to person, this is not always easy. It requires a tailored approach. Your occupational physician or insurance physician will assist you with this.

Your energy is limited due to your symptoms, while recovery actually requires a lot of your energy. Occupational physician Ernst Jurgens explains what recovery time is and what you can do to support your recovery:

Occupational therapist Edith Brocken gives tips on how to deal with the limited energy when returning to work. Make a plan and involve your environment. Make smart choices about what to spend your limited energy on.

Recognizing and guarding boundaries (PEM)

Many people with post-COVID suffer from post-exertional malaise (PEM). Symptoms worsen after physical, cognitive, and/or emotional exertion. Pacing is a technique to manage symptoms and prevent the worsening of complaints. You learn to recognize your physical and cognitive limits, so that you can lead as active a life as possible within those limits.

When you've called in sick, you and your employer will take steps to ensure you can return to work. This is called reintegration. The rules for this are outlined in the Gatekeeper Improvement Act. Together with your employer, you'll try to keep your absence as short as possible and expedite your reintegration. The image shows all the steps and who plays what role.

Please note: for temporary employees who leave employment due to illness, or whose employer is a self-insurer, rights and obligations under the Sickness Benefits Act apply.

Roles within the Gatekeeper Improvement Act:

• De employee Collaborates with all steps necessary to return to work: action plan, first-year evaluation, and discussions with the company doctor and case manager or absence counselor.
• De employer has a duty of care and must actively work on reintegration from the first day of illness.
• De working conditions service Supports employers in complying with the obligations under the Gatekeeper Improvement Act. The company doctor is usually employed by this organization.
• De occupational physician is a medical expert who assesses what the employee can (still) do despite the health complaints.
• De case manager or absence counselor monitors the reintegration process and often acts as the link between the employee, employer, and company doctor. The supervisor, an HR employee, or someone from an occupational health service can fulfill the role of case manager or absence counselor.
• The program reintegration company or reintegration coach is a specialized external party that provides assistance with returning to work, within or outside your own company.
• The program UWV monitors compliance with the Gatekeeper Improvement Act and decides on WIA applications.
• De insurance doctor is employed by the UWV (Employee Insurance Agency) and assesses a person's medical capabilities. The medical examiner conducts the WIA assessment.
• De occupational expert is employed by the UWV (Employee Insurance Agency). The occupational expert combines medical information with workload and assesses whether and what suitable work someone can do, and what their earning capacity is.

At the end of the first year, the first-year evaluation was drawn up. In the second year, you follow the steps you agreed upon with your employer and company doctor regarding this.

For the WIA application, you need to draw up a final evaluation of the action plan with your employer. Include the company doctor's latest analysis ('current assessment') in this. If you are unable to resume work within two years (104 weeks), you will need these documents for your WIA application.

Track 1 and 2

In principle, you will return to your employer. This is called reintegration track 1. Adjustments to your current role or workplace may be necessary, otherwise you will need to look for a position that better suits your limitations. Your employer will assist you with this. Reintegration track 1 begins immediately after you report sick and runs until the end of your employment.

If returning to your own employer is not possible, reintegration with another employer may be an option. This is called reintegration track 2. In this case too, your employer will help you find a suitable position. Track 2 usually starts within 6 weeks of the first-year evaluation and lasts until the end of continued salary payment.

WIA application

Have you and your employer done everything possible but are you unable to return to work? Then you can apply for a refund between weeks 88 and 93. WIA application do. WIA stands for Wet werk en Inkomen naar arbeidsvermogen (Work and Income Act based on Work Capacity). The UWV implements this act. The WIA is intended for people who are unable to work, or can work less, after two years (104 weeks) of illness. The UWV assesses whether sufficient efforts have been made regarding your reintegration and evaluates the degree of disability. This determines your entitlement to a benefit, the type of benefit, and how long you receive it.

The WIA assessment takes place if you have been ill for two years (102 weeks). Unfortunately, this currently takes longer due to increasing waiting times at the UWV. As a result, you are in a period of uncertainty. You can request an advance payment so that you don't end up without an income.

Saying goodbye to work

Dismissal within two years of illness

Your employer may not dismiss you within the two-year period of illness. If this happens anyway, do not agree to your dismissal. Ensure you are well informed about the consequences. Seek help from a legal aid clinic, the Juridisch Loket, or the trade union of which you are a member. Make use of your legal expenses insurance.

Discharge after two years of illness

If you have been ill for two years, your employer may dismiss you. Your employer can apply to the UWV for a dismissal permit. This is also possible if the WIA application has not yet been processed. If the UWV grants the dismissal permit, your employer must terminate your employment contract. In doing so, he must take into account the notice period applicable to you. You are entitled to a transition payment. This amounts to 1/3 of your gross all-in monthly salary per year of service. You can calculate the amount of the transition payment using this calculation tool.

Termination Agreement

You can also decide together with your employer to part ways by mutual consent. In this case, you both agree to the termination of your employment. Together, you draw up a termination agreement containing arrangements regarding, among other things, severance pay, the return of company property, confidentiality, and the payment of accrued vacation days. Have this agreement reviewed by a lawyer.

Legal advice

Seek legal advice at an early stage from your trade union, legal expenses insurance provider, or via the Juridisch Loket. This provides clarity and peace of mind. Are conversations with your employer proving difficult? Bring someone along, record the conversation, and carefully note down what is said. This can help with any potential objection procedure.

Wages or Sickness Benefits Act benefit

• Salaried employment: In the second year after your sick leave, you will receive 70% of your salary. Check your contract or collective labor agreement (CLA) for this. The statutory minimum wage applies as a lower limit.
• Temporary contract: You will receive sickness benefit for a maximum of two years. The amount and duration of the benefit depend on the extent to which you are fit for work. This is determined at the end of the first year of sickness during the First-Year Sickness Benefits Assessment by the UWV (see year 1).

60+ scheme

Currently, a simplified WIA assessment applies to people who have been ill for two years (104 weeks) as of September 1, 2025, and are 60 years of age or older. If both the employee and the employer agree to this, no assessment by the insurance doctor takes place. The employee receives a WGA 80-100 benefit until the state pension age. The amount of this benefit is 70% of the last earned wage, capped at the maximum daily wage. The employer does not bear the costs, even if the employer is a self-insurer.

Work less

If you decide to work fewer hours, this will affect your salary as well as your future WIA benefit. The UWV looks at the last earned salary. Therefore, do not simply agree to adjusting your employment contract during the 104-week period.

Wage penalty 

If the UWV determines during the WIA assessment that your employer has done insufficient work for your reintegration, the UWV may impose a wage sanction. The employer must then continue paying your wages for up to 52 weeks longer. In this case, the WIA application is postponed.

If you remain ill for an extended period, you normally maintain contact with your company doctor every six weeks. Together, you review what is possible to resume your work step by step. Are the conversations with your company or insurance doctor, your employer, or colleagues proving difficult? Are you encountering a lack of understanding or being put under pressure? Contact the Aftercare Advisor for support.

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