Managing Sickness Absence and Return to Work in the Netherlands
Long-term sickness absence in the Netherlands stays with the employer far longer than in most countries. For roughly two years you continue to pay wages, you and your employee must both work towards a return to work, and at the end of that period the Employee Insurance Agency (UWV) assesses what you actually did. Get the sequence wrong and the wage obligation can be extended by up to a year.
AD-Consult therefore produced this free practical guide. It is the English edition of our Dutch guide Grip op verzuim en re-integratie, rewritten for readers who have to apply Dutch rules without a background in Dutch law. It reduces the Wet verbetering poortwachter (the Gatekeeper Improvement Act) to the moments at which you genuinely have to decide something, and shows how to justify those decisions.
Please note: this guide describes Dutch law and Dutch practice. It gives general information, not individual legal advice.
What you get
- A clear timeline of the statutory milestones, from the first day of sickness to the WIA claim.
- Checklists for conversations, record-keeping and choosing a route.
- Three recognisable fictional cases.
- Plain-English explanations of passende arbeid (suitable work), spoor 1, spoor 2 and the WIA stage, with the Dutch terms kept alongside.
- A glossary of the Dutch terms you will meet in letters from your occupational health service and UWV.
- A page separating the rules in force from changes that are only announced, checked on 28 October 2026.
- A worksheet for recording your next steps.
Who is it for?
The guide is written for international organisations with staff in the Netherlands, for foreign employers running a Dutch entity, and for English-speaking HR managers, HR business partners and case managers. You do not need to be a labour expert to use it: it uses ordinary language and explains the technical terms where they matter.
Is your case stuck despite following every step?
AD-Consult provides independent labour expert expertise on suitable work, the first and second track, complex cases and preparation for the WIA stage.
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