From September 1, 2025, the so-called 60-plus measure will come back into force. This measure is intended to reduce the large backlog of WIA examinations and reduce the pressure on insurance doctors. The measure previously ran from October 2022 to January 2025 and is now being reintroduced for two years.
Sick workers aged 60 or older, who apply for WIA after two years of illness, can be assessed through a simplified route. Normally, a WIA application is assessed by both an insurance physician and an employment expert from the UWV. This takes time, and there are long waiting periods. Via the simplified route, the assessment takes place by only an UWV labor expert. This is done on the basis of the reintegration report and any additional information. This is faster and saves the UWV workload.
Simple, but not automatic
The simplified assessment is not a mandatory course. Both the employee and the employer must agree in advance. If either party does not, the regular assessment procedure is still followed.
For HR, this means proactively looking at which employees are eligible as of September 2025. It is important to engage in timely discussions about participation in the plan, and to record the necessary consent prior to the WIA application. For people applying for WIA between January and August 2025, this arrangement does not yet apply. Then everything still goes through the regular procedure.
No pass-through for employers
An important difference from the regular WIA is that the benefit in the case of this measure is paid from the Social Security Disability Fund. This means that employers will not be burdened via a higher WGA premium or salary continuation obligation. Especially for own-risk carriers this is a relevant detail, although the reintegration responsibility remains for them.
This also has a downside: the measure may unintentionally reduce the motivation to actively reintegrate older workers. With this, there is a risk of reduced labor force participation among older workers. This is something the government continues to monitor closely.
What should the employer do?
The first step is to identify which employees will complete the 104-week waiting period in 2025 and will be 60 years of age or older at that time. In the intervening period (January through August 2025) the regulation does not yet apply, so applications in those months will still go through the usual route.
It is also wise to scrutinize your own reintegration policy, collective bargaining agreements and internal procedures around long-term absenteeism and WIA applications. The measure requires coordination between the employer, case managers, supervisors and employees.
The impact
The UWV is struggling to perform all WIA examinations on time. Because of this regulation, fewer medical assessments need to be done. In the previous period when the measure applied (2022-2025), this allowed about 10,000 additional people per year to be helped faster.
Finally, although the assessment is simpler, it is still important to maintain the quality of reintegration efforts. Not only out of responsibility towards the employee, but also with a view to sustainable employability within the company
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