Sick leave by country / Netherlands
Sick leave and sick pay in Netherlands
Who pays when someone is ill, how much, for how long, and what the certificate rules are — in plain English, whether you run a team in Netherlands or work on one.
In the Netherlands the employer pays at least 70% of salary for up to 104 weeks of sickness — and at least the minimum wage during the first year — with no state sick pay for employees until the two years are over. Up to two unpaid waiting days may be agreed in the contract. Employers cannot ask about the illness; a company doctor (bedrijfsarts) assesses fitness, and both sides must follow a reintegration plan under the Gatekeeper Improvement Act.
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How it works
Dutch sick pay is an employer obligation for two full years. Article 7:629 of the Civil Code sets 70% of the (capped) salary as the floor, with a minimum-wage guarantee in the first 52 weeks; most collective agreements raise the first year to 100% and the second to 70%. The Wet verbetering poortwachter imposes a strict timetable: report the sickness to the company doctor within a week, a problem analysis by week 6, a reintegration plan by week 8, a first-year evaluation at week 52, and a WIA application at week 91. Miss the steps and UWV can extend the employer's pay obligation by up to a year. Employers may not ask what the illness is, and the employee need not say — the bedrijfsarts is the only person who assesses capacity. Waiting days do not apply if the employee falls ill again within four weeks of a previous absence.
Worth knowing: Two waiting days are only possible if the contract or CAO says so, and they cannot be applied to a second sickness within four weeks of the first.
If you run a team in Netherlands
Continue at least 70% (and the minimum wage in year one) for up to 104 weeks, register the absence with your occupational health service, and follow the Poortwachter timetable to the week — the sanction for failing to is a third year of sick pay. Never ask for medical details or a diagnosis. Small employers commonly insure the risk (verzuimverzekering).
If you work in Netherlands
Report sick to your employer on the first day and cooperate with the bedrijfsarts and the reintegration plan; you do not have to tell your manager what is wrong. You receive at least 70% of salary for two years, more under most CAOs. If you are still unfit after 104 weeks, you apply to UWV for WIA.
Sickness and annual leave
Employees accrue full statutory holiday during sickness, and sick days during a holiday count as sick leave rather than holiday if reported. Statutory days that could not be taken because of illness do not expire after the usual six months.
The annual leave entitlement itself is covered on our Netherlands annual leave page — 20 working days minimum.
Keeping the record straight
Sick pay rules turn on dates: the day the illness started, the day the certificate was due, the day the employer's obligation ends and the benefit takes over. In Netherlands those dates decide who pays and how much, and they have to be provable months later — to a payroll auditor, an insurer, or the employee. A shared spreadsheet rarely survives that; a tracker like Leavo records each absence with its dates and approvals alongside annual leave, so the record exists before anyone asks for it. We compare the options in our leave management software guide, and the policy side — carryover, payout, accrual — in our guides.
Sick leave in Netherlands: common questions
Can a Dutch employer require a doctor's certificate?
No. Employers cannot ask for medical information; the company doctor assesses fitness for work. Employers can set reasonable reporting rules, such as being reachable for the occupational health service.
Is it really two years at the employer's cost?
Yes, 104 weeks, at a minimum of 70% and at least the minimum wage in year one. Many employers insure this. The state only steps in afterwards with WIA.
Can the employer dismiss a sick employee?
Not during the first two years of sickness, in principle — there is a dismissal ban, with narrow exceptions.
What happens if I fall ill during my annual leave in Netherlands?
Employees accrue full statutory holiday during sickness, and sick days during a holiday count as sick leave rather than holiday if reported. Statutory days that could not be taken because of illness do not expire after the usual six months.
Source
Primary source: Burgerlijk Wetboek Boek 7, art. 629; Wet verbetering poortwachter. Rates and caps change — often every January or April — and collective agreements frequently improve on the statutory scheme. Confirm against the current text before acting. See our methodology.