More certainty for employers regarding the reintegration of sick employees
On October 20, 2025, the draft bill amending the assessment of reintegration efforts and the WIA advance payment scheme was published for internet consultation. Among other things, this bill aims to offer employers greater legal certainty when reintegrating sick employees. The intended date of entry into force is January 1, 2028.
Current bottlenecks in practice
In practice, it often happens that an employer follows the advice of the company doctor, but the UWV insurance doctor does not agree with this advice in the RIV assessment (= the assessment of whether the employer and employee have made sufficient reintegration efforts together). Consider, for example, a situation in which an insurance doctor believes that the employee could be reintegrated, while the company doctor has consistently ruled that there are no reintegration possibilities. This medical difference of opinion can lead to a wage penalty for the employer, whereby the obligation to continue paying wages is extended by a maximum of 52 weeks. In the period 2022–2024, this was even the main reason for 8% of the substantive wage penalties imposed.
What will change?
Company doctor’s advice leading
To prevent this, the bill proposes that the company doctor’s advice on the employee’s work capacity should be decisive in the RIV test carried out by the UWV. The company doctor is an expert, operates independently and carefully, and is subject to medical disciplinary law. It is therefore not appropriate for an employer to be penalized for following the advice of the company doctor.
The UWV will therefore no longer assess the company doctor’s medical opinion. Instead, an occupational expert will assess whether the reintegration efforts of the employer and employee are in line with the company doctor’s advice.
This new approach makes a clear distinction between what cannot be influenced, namely the assessment of the employee’s capacity for work by the company doctor, and what the employer and employee can influence, namely the reintegration efforts. Wage sanctions remain possible, but no longer on the basis of a medical difference of opinion.
Cooperation and quality assurance
The social-medical claim assessment for WIA benefits will continue to be carried out by the UWV insurance doctor. If, at that point, the company doctor’s advice regarding reintegration and the insurance doctor’s opinion during the claim assessment differ, this can lead to confusion and uncertainty among employees. In order to encourage the company doctor’s advice and the insurance doctor’s medical assessment in the context of reintegration to be based on the same principles, the government is investing in further cooperation between the professional groups. An additional quality assurance measure is the use of the BAR (Description of Work Capacity and Reintegration) tool, with a common conceptual framework and common language. This enables company doctors, insurance doctors, and occupational experts to better understand and coordinate with each other.
Timeline
The internet consultation ends on November 17, 2025. Responses to the draft bill can be submitted via Overheid.nl | Consultation on the bill to amend the assessment of reintegration efforts and the WIA advance payment scheme.
Do you have any questions about reintegration? Please feel free to contact Ine Swennen or Lisanne Somers at Paulussen Advocaten in Maastricht. This article was written by Ine Swennen.
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