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Sick leave is the time you are away from work because you are sick. In the Netherlands it is very generous: your employer keeps paying you for up to 2 years, and they can't fire you because you are sick. But the system works differently from what most expats know. You don't need a note from a doctor. Your manager isn't allowed to ask what is wrong with you. And a company doctor you have never met decides when you are ready to go back. For expats there is also a second problem that almost nobody explains: lower pay while you're sick can push you below the minimum salary for your residence permit or your 30% ruling. This guide explains, from the start, how it all works, with a separate part about burnout (being completely exhausted by stress), one of the most common reasons for long sick leave in the Netherlands.
The idea in simple words
If you are sick, you tell your employer you can't come to work. You don't have to say what is wrong. Your employer keeps paying you, at least most of your salary, for up to 2 years.
If you are sick for a longer time, a special company doctor checks what you can still do, and you make a plan together with your employer to slowly come back to work.
If your permit depends on your salary, check how much you'll get while sick, because it may be too low for the permit.
The most important facts
- Pay: at least 70% of your salary for up to 104 weeks (2 years). In the first year, never less than the The lowest pay an employer may legally give you. In Dutch: minimumloon.. Many In Dutch: cao. An agreement between unions and employers for a whole sector, setting pay, sick pay, holidays and other rules. and contracts pay 100% in the first year.
- Calling in sick: tell your employer on the same day, following your company's rules. You don't need a note from a doctor, and you don't have to say what's wrong with you.
- Company doctor: the bedrijfsarts, not your manager, decides what you can and can't do.
- Being fired: your employer can't fire you in the first 2 years of illness, apart from a few exceptions.
- Permit: for the Immigratie- en Naturalisatiedienst: the Dutch immigration office., being sick is not an accepted reason for earning less than the A residence permit for skilled workers hired by a Dutch employer approved by the IND. In Dutch: kennismigrant. minimum salary. Check what your pay will be while sick.
- Settlement agreement: don't sign a deal to end your job while you're sick without advice. It can cost you your sickness money.
How to call in sick
Follow your employer's rules for being absent (verzuimprotocol). You'll usually find them in the staff handbook or on the company's internal website. Most say you must call your manager before a certain time on your first day of being sick. What you tell them, and what they may ask:
| Your employer may ask | Your employer may not ask |
|---|---|
| How long you expect to be away | What illness or symptoms you have |
| Where they can reach you while you're sick | Which doctor or therapist you see, or what treatment you get |
| Whether you have work or appointments that someone else needs to take over | A note or certificate from a doctor |
| Whether your absence is because of an accident caused by someone else, or because of pregnancy or donating an organ | Whether it's "stress" or "mental", even in a roundabout way |
You may tell them more if you want to, but it's your choice. Your employer isn't allowed to write down medical details, even if you share them. Only the company doctor gets the medical information. The doctor only tells your employer what you can and can't do, not why.
- Unpaid first days: your contract or collective agreement (cao) may say you aren't paid for your first 1 or 2 days of being sick (wachtdagen). Two is the legal maximum. Most office employers don't use them.
- Sick during a holiday: call in sick the same way, even from abroad, and get a note from a local doctor. Then your sick days don't count as holiday days.
- Going on holiday while sick: this is allowed, but agree on it with your employer and the company doctor first. You normally use holiday days for it.
Your pay while you're sick
Dutch employers pay the full cost of the first 2 years of illness. There is no government money for employees who are sick and still have a job. The legal minimum is:
| Period | Legal minimum | Common in contracts and cao's |
|---|---|---|
| Weeks 1 to 52 | 70% of your salary, but at least the minimum wage | 100%, sometimes 90% |
| Weeks 53 to 104 | 70% of your salary, no minimum | 70%, sometimes 80% or 85% |
The legal 70% only counts up to a maximum daily pay (maximumdagloon) of €309.91 before tax, from 1 July 2026. In practice, that means the legal minimum is at most about €4,720 a month before tax, including holiday allowance, however much you earn. If you earn more and your contract only promises "the legal minimum", your pay while sick can drop a lot. Your contract and your cao decide what you really get. So read the part about sick pay now, not when you need it.
While you're sick, you keep building up holiday days and In Dutch: vakantiegeld. Extra pay of at least 8% of your yearly salary, usually paid in May., and your pension usually keeps building up too.
Example: the 2-year drop
Arjun earns €7,000 a month before tax as a software engineer. His contract only gives the legal minimum. In his first year of illness, he gets 70% of the capped daily pay: about €4,720 a month before tax, including holiday allowance. His colleague Lena earns the same, but her cao pays 100% in year 1. She keeps her full €7,000 in year 1, and gets about €4,900 (70%) in year 2. For both of them, that's below the highly skilled migrant minimum for people aged 30 and over. That matters for their permit, as you'll see below.
The company doctor and the 2-year timeline
The rules for long illness are in a law called the Gatekeeper Improvement Act (Wet verbetering poortwachter). Both you and your employer have duties. At the end, the The Dutch government office for unemployment, sickness and disability benefits. checks that both of you did your part. Each step has a fixed week:
| When | What happens |
|---|---|
| Day 1 | You call in sick. Your employer tells the In Dutch: arbodienst. A company that employers hire to help with sick employees and safety at work. The company doctor usually works there. (arbodienst). |
| By week 6 | The company doctor writes a report: what you can and can't do, and whether you're expected to get better. |
| By week 8 | You and your employer agree a plan for coming back to work (plan van aanpak). You sign it together. |
| Every 6 weeks | You and your employer look at the plan again, usually with the company doctor. |
| Week 42 | Your employer tells the UWV that you have been sick for a long time. |
| Week 52 | Look back at the first year: what worked, and what's the goal for year 2. |
| Weeks 88 to 93 | The UWV sends you forms. You apply for disability benefit (Wet werk en inkomen naar arbeidsvermogen: Dutch benefit for people who can't work, or can only work less, after 2 years of illness.) by week 93 at the latest. |
If you can't go back to your own job, your employer must look for other suitable work for you within the company (this is called the "first track"). If that isn't realistic, a A company that helps people who have been sick get back to work, sometimes with another employer. helps you find work with another employer (the "second track"). You must cooperate. If you refuse suitable work, or miss appointments with the company doctor without a good reason, your employer can stop your pay.
If you disagree with the company doctor, you can ask another company doctor for a second opinion. You can also ask the UWV for an expert opinion (deskundigenoordeel), for example if you think the work you are offered isn't suitable. Your employer can do the same.
Burnout: what's different
Burnout means being so exhausted by long stress, often from work, that you can't function normally. It's one of the most common reasons for long sick leave in the Netherlands, and it isn't seen as weakness. Getting better usually takes months, not weeks. Some practical points:
- Start with your General practitioner, in Dutch huisarts: your family doctor. (huisarts). Many GP practices have a nurse for mental health (POH-GGZ). It's free and doesn't use your In Dutch: eigen risico. The first part of your yearly healthcare costs that you pay yourself.. See our guide to GPs in the Netherlands.
- Basic insurance doesn't pay for burnout alone. Dutch basic health insurance pays for psychological treatment of illnesses such as depression or an anxiety disorder, with a referral from your GP and your deductible. But burnout or work stress on its own doesn't count as such an illness. So sessions with a psychologist for burnout are usually not paid back, unless your extra insurance covers them. See our guide to health insurance.
- Talk to the company doctor early. You can ask for an appointment yourself, even before you call in sick (preventief spreekuur). Your employer won't be told what you talked about.
- Come back slowly. A normal return starts with a few short days doing light tasks, often without lots of screen work or deadlines, and builds up over weeks. Check your cao: many pay your full salary for the hours you work while you're coming back, but the law doesn't require it.
- Coaching is common. Because basic insurance doesn't pay for it, employers often pay for a burnout coach or psychologist themselves: a quick, lasting return is cheaper for them. Ask.
- The cause at work matters. If too much work or a conflict at work caused the burnout, talk about it in the plan for coming back. Going back to exactly the same situation is a common reason for getting sick again.
Your rights while you're sick
- Can't be fired for 2 years. Your employer can't give you notice in the first 104 weeks of illness (opzegverbod bij ziekte). The exceptions: being fired on the spot for a serious reason, being let go during your trial period, a request to fire you that the UWV or a judge received before you called in sick, refusing to cooperate with your return to work without a good reason, and your employer going bankrupt.
- A temporary contract still ends. The ban on firing doesn't make a contract with an end date longer. If it ends while you're sick, the UWV takes over and pays sickness money (Ziektewet), normally 70% of your daily pay, up to the same maximum.
- Privacy. Your employer may not call your GP or therapist, and may not ask colleagues about your health.
- Travel. You may travel, including to your home country to get better with family, but agree on it first. You must stay available for the company doctor and your plan for coming back. So arrange video calls if you'll be away for longer.
Being offered a deal to end your job while you're sick
Because your employer can't fire you while you're sick, some offer a In Dutch: vaststellingsovereenkomst. A written deal in which you and your employer agree to end the contract. (vaststellingsovereenkomst) to end the contract "by agreement". If you sign it while you're sick, the UWV can refuse or lower your sickness money, because you gave up by choice the salary your employer had to keep paying. Unemployment money (WW) doesn't help either: you only get WW once you are well enough to work. Don't sign anything until an employment lawyer has checked it. Many employers pay for that lawyer. Our guide to losing your job as a highly skilled migrant explains settlement agreements in more detail.
Expats: your residence permit and sick pay
As a highly skilled migrant (kennismigrant), your permit depends on earning at least a minimum salary. In 2026 that's €5,942 a month before tax if you are 30 or older, €4,357 if you are under 30, or €3,122 on the lower amount for recent graduates, without holiday allowance. The IND keeps using that minimum while you are sick.
The IND does accept earning less for a while during parental leave, maternity leave, care leave and some other kinds of leave set by law, if you meet its rules. Being sick is not on that list. If your pay while sick falls below the minimum, your employer, as an approved sponsor, is supposed to tell the IND, and the IND can look at your permit again. In practice the IND looks at each person's situation, but you shouldn't count on that.
What you can do:
- Check your contract now. If it only promises the legal minimum, your pay while sick can drop below the permit minimum in year 1. If it promises 100% in year 1, the risk starts in year 2.
- Ask your employer to pay extra. Some employers agree to pay enough to stay above the IND minimum while you are sick, especially for staff they value.
- Look at other ways to stay. If you've lived here for 5 years, permanent residence means your permit no longer depends on your salary. A partner with their own permit or Dutch nationality can also give you another reason to stay.
- Get advice before your pay drops. An immigration lawyer can tell you how the IND will probably see your case, and what to report.
An EU-wide residence and work permit for highly qualified workers. holders have the same minimum of €5,942 in 2026, and the same problem. EU citizens, and people with a permanent permit or a partner permit, have no minimum salary rule. For them, sick pay is only about money.
Your 30% ruling
The 30% ruling (a tax benefit for some expats) has its own minimum salary: €48,013 taxed salary in 2026, or €36,497 if you are under 30 with a master's degree. The ruling continues while you have a job. But if lower pay while sick takes your salary below the minimum, you can lose it. Ask your payroll team to check what happens before your pay changes.
After 2 years: WIA
If you still can't work after 104 weeks, your employer no longer has to pay you. The UWV then checks how much you can still earn. You only get disability benefit (WIA) if you can earn at least 35% less than before. Your employer may also ask permission to end your contract at that point, and you have a right to the transition payment (money your employer must pay when they end your contract). If you have a permit, this is when your right to stay needs to be sorted out. So get advice well before week 88.
Your sick leave checklist
- Read the part about sick pay in your contract or cao before you need it.
- Call in sick following your employer's rules. Don't give medical details you don't want to give.
- See your GP, and go to every appointment with the company doctor.
- Sign the plan for coming back by week 8, and check it includes the reasons you got sick.
- With a highly skilled migrant permit or Blue Card: compare your pay while sick with the IND minimum, and ask your employer about paying extra.
- Agree on travel abroad with your employer and the company doctor first.
- Never sign a settlement agreement while you're sick without an employment lawyer.
Official sources and useful links
- Business.gov.nl: sick pay
- Business.gov.nl: duties of employers and employees for coming back to work
- Business.gov.nl: being fired during and after a long illness
- Juridisch Loket: your pay when you're sick (Dutch)
- UWV: asking for an expert opinion (Dutch)
- IND: highly skilled migrant rules, including the leave exceptions (PDF)
- IND: required amounts
This is general information based on the rules in October 2026. The maximum daily pay changes on 1 January and 1 July, and the IND minimum salaries on 1 January. Your contract and collective agreement may give you more than the legal minimum. If your permit depends on your salary, talk to an immigration lawyer before your pay while sick drops below the minimum.
