How much must I keep paying a sick employee, and for how long?

Conclusion

Continued pay during illness (loondoorbetaling bij ziekte) lasts 104 weeks. You pay at least 70% of the time-based wage (art. 7:629(1) BW). For the first 52 weeks that is at least this employee's minimum wage. A collective agreement (cao) or the contract may require more. Less than 70% is allowed only for two agreed waiting days (wachtdagen).

What the statute actually says

Each row is one rule. The amount depends on the wage, the cao and the day the illness started.

The maximum daily wage (maximumdagloon) is the cap in art. 17(1) Wfsv (Wet financiering sociale verzekeringen). From 1 July 2026 it is €309.91 gross per day, including holiday allowance. There is no statutory duty above that cap. Pay the excess only if the cao or the contract says so.

If the employee earns the minimum wage, 70% sits below it. For the first 52 weeks you pay the minimum wage, not 70% of it. From week 53 the amount falls to 70%, unless the cao or the contract requires more. From 1 July 2026 the hourly minimum from age 21 is €14.99 gross, excluding holiday allowance. Use the rate that applies to this employee. Youth rates in that regulation are lower.

What you should do as an employer

1. The day of the sick report. Read the contract and the cao for the sick-pay percentage. Who: the employer. Deadline: that same day. If they say 100%, you pay 100%. The statutory 70% is the floor, not the amount you default to.

2. The first paid day. Pay 70% of the time-based wage, up to the maximum daily wage. Who: the employer. In weeks 1 through 52, set that amount next to this employee's minimum wage. If 70% is lower, pay the minimum wage.

3. Waiting days. A waiting day (wachtdag) is a sick day with no pay. Withhold the first two sick days only if the contract or the cao says so in terms. Who: the employer. More than two days is not allowed. Without that agreement you pay from the first sick day.

4. Stopping or suspending pay. Tell the employee at once, on the day the suspicion arises. Who: the employer. Without that notice you can no longer rely on the ground (art. 7:629(7) BW). You may suspend payment while the employee ignores reasonable written instructions about the information you need (art. 7:629(6) BW).

5. Week 104. The duty in paragraph 1 ends after 104 weeks, except for the extensions in paragraph 11. Who: the employer, and the UWV where it sets a longer period. A wage sanction (loonsanctie) is one such extension. What you then pay is on A UWV wage sanction.

6. The reintegration steps. Who: the employer. The sick report, the problem analysis and the plan of action belong to the Gatekeeper Improvement Act (Wet verbetering poortwachter). That statute puts reintegration of a sick employee on the employer. The steps, with week numbers, are on Wet verbetering poortwachter: what must I do?.

Main exceptions and edge cases

• A household employee who usually works fewer than four days a week, solely in the household of the natural person who employs them: six weeks instead of 104 (art. 7:629(2) BW).

• Those six weeks do not apply when the work is paid in whole or in part from a designated public funding scheme.

• Once the employee has reached the state pension age (AOW-leeftijd), the period is six weeks (art. 7:629(2) BW). If the illness started earlier, that period starts on the pension date. The total stays at most 104 weeks.

• During pregnancy and maternity leave you do not pay wages under art. 7:629 (art. 7:629(4) BW).

• The employee has no right to wages while they refuse suitable work or the plan of action (art. 7:629(3) BW). The same holds while they obstruct recovery. It also holds if intent caused the illness, or false information at the pre-employment medical check.

• A new sick report within four weeks continues the same period. It is not a fresh run of 104 weeks (art. 7:629(10) BW).

• Cutting an agreed 100% down to 70% is a change to a term of employment. That is art. 7:613 BW, not art. 7:629. See Can I cut sick pay from 100% to 70%?.

Checklist

• I have read the contract and the cao for the sick-pay percentage.

• I pay 70%, or the higher agreed percentage, for 104 weeks.

• For the first 52 weeks the amount is not below this employee's minimum wage.

• I apply the 70% up to the maximum daily wage, not to the excess.

• I withhold waiting days only if the contract or the cao names them, and two at most.

• If I stop or suspend pay, I have told the employee at once.

• I add together sick reports that are less than four weeks apart.

FAQ

How long must I keep paying a sick employee?

104 weeks, from the first sick day. A break of less than four weeks does not restart the count. After 104 weeks the duty in art. 7:629(1) BW ends, except for the extensions in paragraph 11.

Can I leave the first sick days unpaid?

Only the first two days, and only if the contract or the cao agrees it. That is art. 7:629(9) BW. Without that agreement you pay from day one. More than two unpaid days is not allowed.

What do I pay if the salary is above the maximum daily wage?

The statutory 70% runs up to the maximum daily wage. From 1 July 2026 that is €309.91 gross per day, including holiday allowance. You keep paying the excess only if the contract or the cao says so. The figure is in art. 17(1) Wfsv, which art. 7:629(1) BW points to.

Do I pay 100% if the collective agreement says so?

Yes. Art. 7:629(1) BW is the floor. If the cao or the contract says 100%, you pay 100%. Going back to 70% changes that agreement. That step is on the page about cutting 100% to 70%.

Does the 104-week duty apply to a household employee?

Not in the case of art. 7:629(2) BW. If someone usually works fewer than four days a week, solely in the household of a natural person, the period is six weeks. Publicly funded help falls outside that exception.

Sources

• Art. 7:629 BW. Wages during illness. In force on 31 October 2026.

• Art. 7:628(3) BW. Wage not fixed by time. Applied by art. 7:629(8) BW.

• Art. 7:613 BW. A written variation clause needs a compelling interest.

• Art. 17(1) Wfsv. The maximum daily wage: €309.91 from 1 July 2026 (UWV).

• Hourly minimum from 1 July 2026: €14.99 gross from age 21, excluding holiday allowance. Ministerial regulation of 28 April 2026, no. 2026-0000107275.

Look up the text in statute search. Week numbers are on the poortwachter page.