When must I start second-track reintegration?

Conclusion

The second track (spoor 2) applies during the 104 weeks of wage duty once the employee's own work is no longer possible. That is art. 7:658a lid 1 BW. The second condition is that you have no other suitable work. You then promote suitable work with another employer. The statute sets no week number for that.

What the statute actually says

The first track (spoor 1) is a return to work in your own business. That is the first sentence of art. 7:658a lid 1 BW. The second track is suitable work with another employer. The duty arises when two things are established. The employee's own work can no longer be done. And your business has no other suitable work.

The duty runs for as long as the employee has a right to sick pay from you. That period is 104 weeks, under art. 7:629 lid 1 BW. An extension by the UWV counts. The percentage is on sick pay during illness.

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 to demand. That is art. 7:658a lid 4 BW.

You take, as early as reasonably possible, the measures and instructions that are reasonably required. That is art. 7:658a lid 2 BW. The agreements belong in the plan of action (plan van aanpak). That plan is on the plan of action during illness.

The employee does the suitable work you offer. That is art. 7:660a lid 1 BW. If the employee refuses, the right to wage ends in the cases of art. 7:629 lid 3 BW.

If you engage a reintegration company (re-integratiebedrijf), you give it the data that work needs, including the citizen service number. That is art. 7:658a lid 5 BW. The statute does not require you to engage such a company.

The Beleidsregels beoordelingskader poortwachter are UWV policy, not statute. You look first at the employee's own job, adapted if needed. Then at other suitable work in your business. Another employer comes up once that is no longer possible. You and the employee may aim there earlier, if the prospect is better.

At the end of the first year of illness the framework expects preparation for another employer, if your business still has no result. That preparation stays off where there is a concrete prospect of a return with you. The evaluation is on the first-year evaluation.

The Werkwijzer Poortwachter (1 August 2022) is policy as well. It expects the second track to start within six weeks after the first-year evaluation. The exception is a concrete return in your organisation within three months. Those six weeks are not in art. 7:658a BW.

The UWV tests whether you search actively. Merely forwarding vacancies is not enough under the framework. You may engage a reintegration company. The framework attributes a defect of that company to you.

If you miss the second track without a valid reason, and chances were missed, the UWV extends the wage duty. The extension is 52 weeks at most. That is art. 25 lid 9 WIA. The detail is on A UWV wage sanction. The full sequence is on Wet verbetering poortwachter: what must I do?.

What you should do as an employer

1. Once the employee's own work is in doubt. Who: you, with the company doctor (bedrijfsarts). Have it established whether that work can still be done, and whether you have other suitable work. You do not set the medical limit yourself.

2. First in your business. Offer the employee's own job, lighter or with other tasks if needed. Search actively for another job with you. Pointing at a vacancy is not enough under the UWV framework.

3. Once those two cannot be done. Start the second track. Put in the plan what the employee can do, which steps you take, and when you evaluate. The employee agrees.

4. During the track. Keep watch. Ask periodically about progress. Address the employee if the employee does too little. Address the reintegration company if it does too little.

5. After the first year of illness. Tie this to the first-year evaluation. Without a result in your business, and without a concrete prospect there, the preparation starts. The Werkwijzer names six weeks after that evaluation.

6. Keep the proof. Keep the steps for the reintegration report.

Main exceptions and edge cases

An employee who has reached AOW pension age is outside the second track. That is art. 7:658a lid 1 BW. You also make no plan of action for that employee.

If the employee's own work is still possible, or you have other suitable work, the second track is not yet required. Moving earlier is allowed, if you and the employee agree and the prospect is better. That is policy, not a duty to look outside at once.

An employee need not accept work where physical, mental or social reasons stand in the way. That is art. 7:658a lid 4 BW. If the employee refuses work that is suitable, the wage grounds of art. 7:629 lid 3 BW apply.

For a fixed-term contract the UWV framework keeps required cost within 70% of the wage still due over the remaining term. You need not ask the UWV to join the track.

Art. 7:658a lid 6 BW also covers an own-risk bearer (eigenrisicodrager) for the Sickness Benefits Act. The duty runs while that bearer pays sickness benefit.

The second track does not replace the company doctor's opinion. Without a picture of the possibilities you are searching at random. That picture belongs in the problem analysis (probleemanalyse) and in the plan.

Checklist

• Established that the employee's own work can no longer be done.

• Searched for other suitable work in your own business.

• Plan updated with the steps toward another employer, and with the employee's view.

• Track followed: progress asked, employee or agency addressed where that was required.

• After the first year, the Werkwijzer's six weeks set against a concrete prospect with you.

• Steps kept for the reintegration report.

FAQ

When is the second track mandatory?

Once it is established that the employee's own work can no longer be done and you have no other suitable work. You then promote work with another employer, for as long as the wage duty runs. That is art. 7:658a lid 1 BW. The statute names no week number.

What must I arrange for the second track?

A picture of the possibilities, the steps toward another employer, and evaluation moments. That belongs in the plan of action, in agreement with the employee. You then keep track of progress. The employee does the suitable work you offer.

Must I hire a reintegration company?

No. The statute does not require it. If you do hire one, you give it the data the work needs, including the citizen service number. That is art. 7:658a lid 5 BW. The UWV attributes a defect of that company to you.

May the employee refuse the second track?

Work that does not fit the employee's strength and skill, or that physical, mental or social reasons make unreasonable to demand, need not be accepted. That is art. 7:658a lid 4 BW. Suitable work you offer must be done. That is art. 7:660a lid 1 BW.

What if I start the second track late?

The statute names no week. The Werkwijzer expects the start within six weeks after the first-year evaluation, unless a return with you within three months is concretely in view. That is policy. If chances were missed, the UWV extends the wage duty by 52 weeks at most.

Sources

• Art. 7:658a BW. First track and second track, suitable work, data to a reintegration company.

• Art. 7:660a BW. The employee does the suitable work you offer.

• Art. 7:629 BW. The 104-week wage duty, and its end on a refusal.

• Art. 25 lid 9 WIA. Extension of that duty by 52 weeks at most.

• UWV, Beleidsregels beoordelingskader poortwachter, and Werkwijzer Poortwachter, 1 August 2022. Policy. The order own job, own business, another employer, and the six weeks, come from there.

Look up the article in statute search.