Wet verbetering poortwachter: what must I do?

Conclusion

Ask the company doctor for an opinion within six weeks if a long absence is expected. The deadline is art. 2 lid 2 of the Regeling procesgang. Within two weeks, agree a written plan of action with the employee. Wage continues for 104 weeks. Without a valid reason the UWV extends that duty by 52 weeks at most. You take these steps before a lawyer.

What the statute actually says

The Wet verbetering poortwachter puts reintegration of a sick employee on the employer. A search for "wet van poortwachter" is the same Act. The duties are spread out. Art. 7:658a BW states yours. Art. 7:660a BW states the employee's. The deadlines sit in the Regeling procesgang eerste en tweede ziektejaar. The UWV's test sits in art. 25 WIA.

The company doctor is the person in art. 14 lid 1 Arbowet who advises you on absence. The occupational health service is a service under that Act. You do not make the medical diagnosis. This page does not replace the company doctor or the service.

Spoor 1 (first track) is a return to work in your own business. That is the first sentence of art. 7:658a lid 1 BW. Spoor 2 (second track) is suitable work with another employer. That duty applies once the employee's own work is no longer possible and your business has no other suitable work. It runs during the sick-pay period, including a period the UWV extends. An employee who has reached AOW pension age is outside it.

Suitable work (passende arbeid) is all work that fits the employee's strength and skill. Acceptance is not required where physical, mental or social reasons make it unreasonable. That is art. 7:658a lid 4 BW.

The ordinary waiting period (wachttijd) for a WIA benefit is 104 weeks (art. 23 lid 1 WIA). During that period you keep paying wage under art. 7:629 lid 1 BW. The amount and the exceptions are on sick pay during illness.

The regulation does not number a week 1. Art. 2 lid 1 says you give the absence data in time, for the doctor's advice.

The six weeks run from the first day of incapacity. You ask for the opinion when the company doctor or the service expects a long absence. If that only becomes clear after six weeks, you ask at once. That is art. 2 lid 3 of the regulation.

The UWV Werkwijzer Poortwachter (1 August 2022) is UWV policy, not statute. It calls the opinion the problem analysis (probleemanalyse) and places it in week 6. It places the plan of action in week 8. The regulation's two weeks start on the day of the opinion. If the opinion falls in week 6, the plan falls in week 8.

The UWV's letter falls on the day the waiting period has lasted 89 weeks. That is art. 64 lid 2 WIA. The UWV writes to the employee. You receive a copy.

You draw up the reintegration report (re-integratieverslag) at the latest 13 weeks before the waiting period ends. On a 104-week waiting period that is the day it has lasted 91 weeks. That is art. 25 lid 3 WIA.

The employee applies for the benefit at the latest 11 weeks before the end. That is the day the waiting period has lasted 93 weeks. The Werkwijzer says the complete file arrives with that application, at the latest in the 93rd week of absence. The statute requires the report earlier. The report contains a current opinion. The medical parts still have to be accurate on the application date.

The report contains at least the following. The list is art. 6 of the regulation.

• The administrative details of the employee, the employer and the company doctor or service.

• The nature of your business, the job and the employee's skills.

• The first day of incapacity.

• The opinion under art. 2 and the later advice on adjusting the plan.

• The plan of action and the updates.

• The evaluation at the end of the first year of illness and the latest evaluation after that.

• A current judgment by you and by the doctor on the quality of the employment relationship.

• A current judgment by the doctor on the course, the limitations and the possibilities.

• A current judgment by the doctor and by you on suitable work in your business.

• The employee's own judgment on all of those materials.

The employee cooperates with the plan, the evaluation and the report. He follows reasonable instructions. He does suitable work you offer. That is art. 7:660a lid 1 BW. If the employee refuses, the right to wage ends under art. 7:629 lid 3 BW. Those grounds are on the sick-pay page.

If the WIA application shows a defect without a valid reason, the UWV extends the wage period. The defect is a missed duty in art. 25 lid 1 to 5 WIA. It is also an insufficient reintegration effort. The extension is 52 weeks at most. That is art. 25 lid 9 WIA. That extension is the wage sanction (loonsanctie). The detail is on A UWV wage sanction.

A court dismisses a claim to enforce art. 7:658a lid 2 BW. The claim needs a statement from an expert the UWV appoints. That is art. 7:658b lid 1 BW. The requirement does not apply if compliance is not disputed, or if producing the statement cannot reasonably be required of the employee.

What you should do as an employer

1. On the sick day. Who: you. Give the company doctor or the service the absence data in time. The regulation sets no week number for that. You do not judge the complaint.

2. Within six weeks, if a long absence is expected. Who: you ask, the company doctor or the service gives the opinion. The opinion is about this case of illness. The UWV calls that opinion the problem analysis. If the long absence only becomes clear later, you ask at once.

3. Within two weeks after the opinion. Who: you and the employee. Only if a return to work is still possible. Put the activities, goals, deadlines, both views, evaluation moments and a guide in writing. The UWV calls that guide the case manager (casemanager). Give a copy at once to the employee, the guide and the doctor. The contents are on the plan of action during illness.

4. Throughout the illness. Who: you. Keep a record of the course of the illness and of the reintegration. Keep the documents, the correspondence and the hours actually worked. That follows from art. 25 lid 1 WIA and from art. 3 of the regulation.

5. Periodically, and at the end of the first year of illness. Who: you and the employee. Evaluate the agreements. Adjust the plan if the doctor advises it. That year-end evaluation is the first-year evaluation (eerstejaarsevaluatie), on the first-year evaluation. The Werkwijzer tests an evaluation after six weeks. From week 14 it treats a plan that was not adjusted as stagnation. That is policy.

6. The first day after the incapacity has lasted 42 weeks. Who: you. Report the employee to the UWV and state the first sick day (art. 38 lid 1 ZW). Add together spells with a gap of less than four weeks. A late report draws a fine of € 455 at most (art. 38 lid 3 ZW).

7. Second track. Who: you, once it is established that the employee's own work is no longer possible and your business has no other suitable work. You then promote suitable work with another employer, during the wage period. The statute sets no week number for that. The Werkwijzer expects the start within six weeks after the first-year evaluation. An exception is a concrete return in your organisation within three months. That is policy. The task itself is on second-track reintegration.

8. On the day the waiting period has lasted 89 weeks. Who: the UWV. It sends the employee a letter about the WIA application and sends you a copy.

9. At the latest 13 weeks before the waiting period ends. Who: you, in consultation with the employee. Draw up the reintegration report and give the employee a copy. The employee files the application at the latest 11 weeks before the end. You supply the file. If the report is missing or incomplete, the UWV sets you a deadline to complete it. That is art. 25 lid 8 WIA.

10. If the UWV finds a defect. Who: you repair it, the UWV decides. The wage period is extended by 52 weeks at most. If you report that the defect is repaired, the UWV decides within three weeks. The extension ends six weeks after the UWV finds the repair, and no later than 52 weeks. The steps are on the wage-sanction page.

If you did not file the week-42 report before the waiting period lasted 81 weeks, a safety net drops away. Without that report, a late WIA application is not treated as on time. The same holds if the UWV never sent the letter in art. 64 lid 2 WIA, or sent it late. That is art. 64 lid 6 WIA.

Main exceptions and edge cases

On application the UWV sets a shortened waiting period if the employee is fully and permanently incapacitated. That period is 13 weeks at least and 78 weeks at most. That is art. 23 lid 6 WIA.

An employee who has reached AOW pension age is outside the second track. You do not draw up a plan of action for that employee. He does not have to cooperate with that plan. That is art. 7:658a lid 1 and lid 3 BW and art. 7:660a lid 2 BW.

If the opinion shows no remaining possibilities to promote a return to work, you do not make a plan of action. The record and the week-42 report stay in place for as long as the wage duty runs.

For the 42 weeks, a spell that connects directly to pregnancy or maternity leave counts, unless the illness does not flow from the same cause. Do not count the leave itself. That is art. 38 lid 1 ZW.

Employer and employee may depart from the deadlines in art. 2 and art. 4 of the regulation. The departure has to be motivated. Write the reason down. That is art. 5 of the regulation.

If the company doctor finds that extra expertise is required, the doctor brings it in in time. That is art. 7a of the regulation. You do not appoint that expert in the doctor's place.

Art. 7:658a lid 6 BW applies the article in the same way to an own-risk bearer (eigenrisicodrager) for the Sickness Benefits Act. It covers the persons in art. 29 lid 2, points a, b and c, ZW. They last had an employment contract with that bearer. The duty runs while the bearer pays them sickness benefit.

An early sick report to the service does not replace the opinion. A plan without the employee's view is not a plan under art. 4 lid 2. A report you only draw up in week 93 misses the deadline of 13 weeks before the end.

Checklist

• Absence data given to the company doctor or the service in time.

• Opinion requested within six weeks, or at once once a long absence becomes clear.

• Plan of action in writing, within two weeks after the opinion, with a guide and a copy to the employee and the doctor.

• Record kept of hours, documents and the course of the illness.

• Evaluation done periodically, and at the end of the first year of illness.

• Week-42 report filed on the first day after the incapacity has lasted 42 weeks.

• Reintegration report ready at the latest 13 weeks before the waiting period ends, with a copy to the employee.

FAQ

What is the Wet verbetering poortwachter?

The Act puts reintegration of a sick employee on the employer. The duties are in art. 7:658a BW and art. 7:660a BW. The deadlines are in the Regeling procesgang eerste en tweede ziektejaar. The UWV tests the steps when the WIA application is made.

When must the company doctor's opinion be ready?

Within six weeks of the first sick day, if the doctor or the service expects a long absence. That is art. 2 lid 2 of the Regeling procesgang. The UWV calls that opinion the problem analysis. If the long absence only becomes clear later, you ask for the opinion at once.

When is the plan of action due?

Within two weeks after the opinion, if that opinion still shows room to promote a return to work. That is art. 4 lid 1 of the regulation. If the opinion falls in week 6, the plan falls in week 8. You make the plan with the employee and put it in writing.

When do I file the week-42 report?

On the first day after the incapacity has lasted 42 weeks. You report the employee to the UWV and state the first sick day. That is art. 38 lid 1 ZW. A late report draws a fine of € 455 at most.

When is the reintegration report due?

At the latest 13 weeks before the end of the 104-week waiting period. That is the day the waiting period has lasted 91 weeks. That is art. 25 lid 3 WIA. The employee applies for the WIA benefit at the latest 11 weeks before the end.

Sources

• Art. 7:658a BW. Employer reintegration.

• Art. 7:658b BW. Expert statement on a claim to enforce the duty.

• Art. 7:660a BW. The employee's cooperation.

• Art. 7:629 lid 1 BW. Wage during 104 weeks of illness.

• Regeling procesgang eerste en tweede ziektejaar. Art. 2, 4, 5, 6 and 7a. In force from 1 July 2025, consulted on 31 October 2026.

• Art. 14 Arbowet. The company doctor.

• Art. 38 ZW. The week-42 report and the fine of € 455 at most.

• Art. 23 WIA, art. 25 WIA and art. 64 WIA. Waiting period, report, wage sanction, WIA application.

• UWV, Werkwijzer Poortwachter, 1 August 2022. UWV policy, not statute. Week 6, week 8, week 93 and stagnation from week 14.

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