The Dutch Sickness Benefits Act (Ziektewet)

If you fall ill and have no employer to keep paying your wages, the Sickness Benefits Act (Ziektewet) provides an income instead, normally 70% of your daily wage, paid by the UWV. Two groups get 100% instead of 70%: incapacity connected with pregnancy or childbirth, and incapacity following organ donation.

Who is covered?

The Act catches employees who are not covered by ordinary continued wage payment from an employer. That includes people whose fixed-term contract ends while they are ill, agency workers whose assignment ends under the agency clause, people who fall ill within four weeks of their employment ending, and people on unemployment benefit who become unable to work.

Two categories are covered regardless of employment status: incapacity connected with pregnancy or childbirth, and incapacity following organ donation. Employees with a recognised occupational disability can also fall under the Act through the no-risk policy, which removes the financial disincentive for an employer to hire them.

How much do you receive?

The benefit is normally 70% of your daily wage, capped at the statutory maximum daily wage. For incapacity connected with pregnancy or childbirth, and for incapacity following organ donation, it is 100% of the daily wage. Where incapacity after childbirth is connected to the pregnancy, that link is a medical question, so it is worth having it recorded properly from the start.

What do you have to do while receiving benefit?

The Act imposes reintegration duties similar to those in an employment relationship: report your incapacity in time, be available for assessment, follow reasonable instructions aimed at recovery, and cooperate with a plan of action. The UWV can reduce or refuse benefit if you do not meet these duties.

What happens after a year?

After 52 weeks, the UWV assesses whether you are able to earn at least 65% of your previous income in generally accepted work. If you are, your entitlement ends; if you are not, it continues, and after two years the question becomes one of long-term incapacity benefit instead.

What should employers know?

Employers are not simply out of the picture once the Ziektewet applies. Larger employers can be charged for Sickness Benefits Act payments to former employees through differentiated contributions, and employers can also choose to bear that risk themselves. That makes how a fixed-term contract ends while someone is ill a financial question as well as a legal one, and it is worth taking advice before deciding not to renew.

What if UWV decides against you?

A refusal, reduction or end of benefit is a formal decision you can challenge. You can lodge an objection with the UWV, and if that fails, an appeal to the administrative court follows. The medical assessment behind the decision can be challenged too, and doing so takes medical information rather than argument alone, which is why gathering it early matters.

In summary

• The Sickness Benefits Act pays employees who fall ill without an employer to continue their wages, usually 70% of the daily wage.
• Incapacity connected with pregnancy, childbirth or organ donation is paid at 100% instead of 70%.
• You must report your incapacity, stay available for assessment and cooperate with your reintegration plan, or the benefit can be reduced.
• After a year, the UWV checks whether you can still earn at least 65% of your previous income; if not, the benefit continues.
• You can object to a UWV decision, and appeal to the administrative court if the objection does not succeed.

Frequently asked questions

Does my employer still play a role once I am on Sickness Benefits Act benefit? Yes. Larger employers can be charged for the cost through differentiated contributions, so employers often stay involved in the reintegration process.

What if I disagree with the medical assessment behind a decision? You can object, but you will generally need your own medical information to support that objection rather than argument alone.

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