Sick leave Netherlands 2026: sick pay, the 104 weeks, reintegration and your rights

Your employer keeps paying at least 70% of your wage for up to 104 weeks, and in the first 52 weeks at least the minimum wage (Civil Code, article 7:629, Rijksoverheid).

• High earners: the 70% applies to pay up to the maximum daily wage, €309.91 gross a day from 1 July 2026 (Ministry of Social Affairs).
• Second year: no top-up to the minimum wage. If your household income then falls below the social minimum, you can ask UWV for a supplement.
• Waiting days: your contract or CAO can leave the 1st day, or the first 2 days, unpaid. That does not apply if you fall ill again within 4 weeks (Rijksoverheid).
• Periods add up: 2 periods of illness less than 4 weeks apart count as 1, which matters for when the 104 weeks end.
• Losing the right to pay: if you caused the illness on purpose, slow down your recovery, refuse suitable work you can do, or refuse to help draw up or evaluate the plan of action.

Under the Wet verbetering poortwachter (Gatekeeper Improvement Act), the fixed milestones are the company doctor’s assessment within 6 weeks, the report to UWV after 42 weeks and the WIA application by week 93. You and your employer are jointly responsible for your return to work in the first 2 years of illness (Rijksoverheid). What happens after week 104 is covered in our Dutch guide on dismissal after 2 years of sickness (ontslag na 2 jaar ziekte), including the UWV permit and the WIA deadline.

• The sources: the assessment and plan (Regeling procesgang), the report to UWV (Ziektewet, article 38), the second track and the WIA application (UWV Werkwijzer Poortwachter).
• Back to work step by step: fewer hours for a while, an adapted workplace, or other work, possibly seconded to another employer. Rijksoverheid describes a progress talk every 6 weeks.
• Wage sanction: if UWV finds the employer’s efforts insufficient, it can extend the duty to pay your wages by up to 52 weeks. After repairing the gaps, the employer can ask to shorten it.
• Longer on purpose: you and your employer can ask UWV together to extend sick pay voluntarily — there is no fixed deadline, though UWV prefers the request before the 104-week waiting period ends (Arboportaal).

If your temporary contract ends while you are ill, UWV takes over the payments from that date until the 2 years are up (Rijksoverheid).

• No renewal needed: your employer does not have to renew the contract, and reports you to UWV as sick when you leave. You can then get a Ziektewet benefit (UWV).
• Guidance moves too: UWV also becomes responsible for your guidance and reintegration.
• Ill for more than 6 weeks: you and your employer draw up a reintegration report, which you need for the Ziektewet application. If UWV finds too little was done, it can recover the benefit from the employer or lower your benefit.
• Resigning early: no Ziektewet benefit until the original end date of the contract.

Burnout is treated like any other illness: if you cannot work, the same sick pay and dismissal rules apply. The Civil Code’s sick pay rule covers being unable to work through illness, pregnancy or birth, and has no separate rules for burnout or other mental health problems (Civil Code, article 7:629).

• Pushed back too soon: you can ask for a second opinion from another company doctor. You or your employer can also ask UWV for an expert opinion (deskundigenoordeel) on whether you can do your own work; for an employee it costs €100. It is advice, but UWV uses it when it assesses the reintegration report for a WIA application (UWV).
• Going back step by step: fewer hours or adapted work are part of the plan of action; see the Poortwachter steps.
• Pay stopped: your employer may only stop or hold back sick pay for reasons the law lists, such as refusing suitable work or not cooperating with the plan of action without a good reason, or not following written instructions about the information your employer needs (Civil Code, article 7:629).
• Offered a VSO while burnt out: if you are still unfit for work when you sign, you will probably get no Ziektewet benefit (UWV). Read our settlement agreement guide first.
• Who decides: only the company doctor or occupational health service may judge how the illness affects your work, not your employer (Autoriteit Persoonsgegevens).
• Your privacy: the same rules on what your employer may ask apply, whatever the illness.
• Pregnancy: illness from pregnancy or birth is paid at 100%; see our maternity leave guide.