Farewell sick employees: out of sight, out of mind?

If your employee gets sick and enters absenteeism , there are basically two ways to say goodbye. The first is that the fixed-term contract expires by operation of law, the second; employee has received a WIA decision and resignation is requested from the UWV. Many employers and managers are often relieved when the sick employee is no longer employed, and they are no longer responsible for employee and reintegration. Interventions such as an occupational health survey or a track 2 are often not used (anymore) either, because they will be saying goodbye soon anyway. But is that justified, the relief when a contract with an absent employee can be terminated? Out of sight may mean out of mind, but not out of pocket.

Because what actually happens when an employee leaves service sick, or has received a WIA decision? We briefly take you through the various scenarios, what it means for the claim burden and the associated costs.

As an organization, you can choose to self-insure under the Sickness Benefits Act and/or the Return to Work (Partially Disabled) Act (WGA). This means that if an employee leaves the company due to illness or files for unemployment benefits with the UWV, your organization may choose to pay the benefits to which the employee is entitled directly to the (former) employee. This means that, as an organization, you will continue to bear the costs of your (former) employee’s benefits for up to two years under the Sickness Benefits Act or up to ten years under the WGA. Additionally, if you opt to self-insure, you remain responsible for your (former) employee’s reintegration and related interventions and activities.

You may then wonder why organizations then choose to become self-insurer, if it means you have to pay the cost of benefits yourself. If you are not self-insurer, you also indirectly pay for the costs of your (former) employee's benefits. This is then done through the premium that your organization has to pay to the UWV. The UWV then takes over the responsibility of reintegration.

So, left or right, you will still be paying for employees who have left your employ on sick leave or whose resignation has been requested from the UWV. Despite the fact that they are no longer on the payroll, they are still back on your claims list. So the saying "out of sight, out of mind," doesn't really apply to this situation at all. Understanding your claims burden is the first step toward controlling and reducing your claims burden. And when you pay attention to this, you will probably also make other choices when an employee may leave your employ on sick leave, or go towards the WIA gate.

Benieuwd naar de andere keuzes die u kunt maken in deze situaties? Bespreek het met uw Adviseur Arbeid & Gezondheid van De Arbodienst. Wij werken nauw samen met zusterorganisatie Resolu om grip te krijgen op uw schadelast.