Most Frequently Asked Questions

The costs of a sick employee may not be immediately apparent, but they can amount to €400 per day. The amount depends, among other things, on the loss of production due to the employee's absence, the replacement that must be arranged, the costs of reintegration, etc. Ninety percent of business owners do not know at all what all this costs them. Incidentally, there are several online tools that allow entrepreneurs to calculate what they will spend on medical expenses on an annual basis.

When an employee gets sick, you are legally obliged to continue paying the wages of this sick employee for 2 years. When you take out sick leave insurance, the insurer continues to pay the wages during this employee's illness.

Long-term illness is unpleasant for your employee, but also for your company. Overall, you are required to continue paying your sick employee's wages for the first two years. Given the high costs, sick leave can put your business at risk when someone becomes ill for a long time and you do not have sick leave insurance. 

Of course, you want an employee to return to work as soon as possible. Fortunately, 80 percent return to work within a few days and 90 percent have started again after six weeks. What many employers don't know, however, is that 20 percent of short absences have a 60 percent chance of being out longer within a year. If the illness lasts longer than six weeks have your employee talk to a company doctor. Based on this, you will need to develop a step-by-step plan with the employee. This can speed up a return.

Hiring a company doctor is mandatory the moment an employee has been sick for 6 weeks. At that point, the company doctor must prepare a problem analysis. Of course, a company doctor may be called in earlier, for example to deal with high-frequent short-term absenteeism or to draw up a preventive policy to limit work-related absenteeism as much as possible. Even when an employee is not yet on long-term sick leave, but it looks like this may start to happen, a company doctor can be helpful. The earlier the creation of a sickness file and reintegration is started, the sooner your employee will be back at work.

Although he can seek the advice of a company doctor in this regard, it is the employer who decides. Ultimately, it is also the employer who is responsible for the reintegration of his employee. Should an employee disagree, he can request an expert opinion from the UWV.

You do not have to allow sick leave in all cases. Depending on the nature of the employee's limitations due to the illness, substitute work might be possible. If employer and employee cannot work this out together then a company doctor can be called in to discuss the severity of the illness and its consequences. The employee is always obliged to comply with the call of the company doctor. Should this not be possible due to the nature of the illness, the company doctor may consider visiting the sick employee at home.

About 70,000 to 100,000 sick calls a year stem from a conflict at work. A work conflict is not a legitimate reason for calling in sick, because at the time of calling in sick there is no illness or disability. However, a conflict can cause illness and still result in legitimate sick leave. If a labor conflict is the cause of the absence, the employee must report it to the employer. A "cooling off period" is often chosen in this case, during which those involved do not have to meet for a short time and can think about follow-up steps to limit the consequences of the conflict. In the event of a conflict, the following additions apply: If a labor conflict is the cause of the absenteeism, the company doctor must report to the employer that there is no illness or disability and therefore sick leave is not an issue.

 

If there is a conflict, it must be clearly indicated in the reintegration report. The employer can encourage the employee to proceed to conflict resolution, possibly through (announcement of) wage suspension.

The employer may ask about exploitable capabilities, what the sick employee can still do. This will give you an idea of how long the absence will last, if any, and whether you need to arrange for a replacement. You can also get a better idea of whether substitute work is possible. You can also already form a picture of whether reintegration activities are already necessary. However, as an employer, you may not ask questions about the nature of the illness and the diagnosis.

An employer, in accordance with the Gatekeeper Improvement Act, must continue to pay wages for up to two years. The percentage depends on the collective bargaining agreement and other influencing factors. As an employer, you are responsible for the reintegration of the sick employee.

An employee who is sick must, of course, notify his employer. How this should be done depends on the agreements made between employer and employees. The sick report is passed on to the occupational health and safety service, and in most situations an employee will be called for the consultation of the company doctor within 6 weeks. Towards this doctor, the employee must be open about the complaints and the possible origin of the illness. This allows the doctor to assess what medical possibilities and limitations the employee has and whether suitable work can be performed. Of course, the doctor must observe professional secrecy. Doctors may not share information about the nature of the illness and treatment with the employer.

The Gatekeeper Improvement Act came into effect in 2002 and aims to drastically reduce the inflow into the WAO. As a result of this law, the responsibility for sick leave management and reintegration of sick employees lies entirely with you as the employer. However, the employee is obliged, under penalty of sanctions, to cooperate fully in this.You must create an absenteeism file for the sick employee, in which the first day of illness is mentioned. After 6 weeks at the latest, you must call in a company doctor to see exactly what is going on ("Draw up Problem Analysis"). After this, you as the employer will draw up a plan of action for the sick employee. Usually this is done in consultation with the company doctor and the person involved. You must evaluate this plan regularly.The Gatekeeper Improvement Act imposes a tight schedule on employers. This schedule must be followed from the first moment of absenteeism. A few important moments:after 6 weeks the company doctor draws up a problem analysis;after 8 weeks the plan of approach is drawn up;every 6 weeks an evaluation of the plan of approach;42 week evaluation (deadline for reporting sick to the UWV of the employee who is unfit for work);after 52 weeks the first year evaluation;after 91 weeks the WIA application. 

Important factors in the development of illness are stress and an unhealthy lifestyle. Healthy employees are more productive, feel better about themselves and are less likely to get sick. Therefore, encourage them to exercise and monitor the workload. Should an employee fall ill, show your commitment and help find a solution.

An occupational health and safety service is committed to the sustainable employability of employees, responsibly reducing absenteeism within companies. In addition to company doctors, health and safety services employ various other experts such as ergonomists, labor experts, labor and organizational consultants. These experts work together to advise employees and employers on optimal working conditions. Furthermore, advice is given in the form of lifestyle and health programs, among other things, aimed at further improving the sustainable employability of employees.

In the 1st track, it is investigated whether there is still suitable work for the employee within the company of the current employer. This may be the employee's own job, modified own job or another suitable job. 

The moment there are no more possibilities for the sick employee at his or her own employer as a result of his or her limitations, it must be investigated whether suitable work can be found at another employer. This is called the 2nd track. Before the 2nd track can be started, it must be clear that there are no possibilities in the 1st track.

If an employee is still disabled after almost 2 years, the wia application can be made from week 88 to 93. Once this application is received by UWV, the employer's reintegration efforts are reviewed. After all, the employer is ultimately responsible for the reintegration. To do this, UWV expects the application to be accompanied by a reintegration file, in which all steps taken by the employer and employee during the illness are described.

If the UWV assesses your efforts as sufficient, the UWV calculates the employee's degree of disability. If the percentage of disability is 35% or higher, then employee is eligible for WIA benefits.