If you are ill, your employer must in principle continue to pay at least 70% of your wages for 104 weeks (article 7:629 of the Civil Code). For the first 52 weeks, this is at least the statutory minimum wage applicable to you. If he stops or reduces payment, he must have informed you of this without delay, stating the reason — if he does not, he can no longer rely on it later.
What you can do now
- Ask in writing for the reason for the wage stop or suspension, and for the date on which it was communicated to you.
- Apply to the UWV for an expert opinion on your incapacity for work or on your reintegration efforts.
- Give your employer formal notice of default in writing and claim the wage arrears, with a specific payment deadline.
- Gather your payslips, employment contract, collective labour agreement (cao), all emails and the company doctor’s reports.
- In the meantime, keep cooperating with monitoring and reintegration — refusing is itself a ground for stopping your wages.
How much pay must my employer continue to pay?
At least 70% of your wages, for a maximum of 104 weeks, and for the first 52 weeks at least the minimum wage applicable to you. This is laid down in article 7:629(1) of the Civil Code. There is an upper limit: the part of your wages above the maximum daily wage under the Social Insurance Financing Act (Wet financiering sociale verzekeringen) does not have to be paid. Your contract may provide that the first two days are unpaid (waiting days), but more than two days is not allowed.
Can a cao provide for more than 70%?
Yes, and that often happens: many cao's prescribe 100% in the first year of illness and, for example, 70% in the second. The law is a floor, not a ceiling — derogating to your detriment is hardly ever allowed, derogating in your favour is always allowed. So first check which cao applies to you and what it says about illness. Your own employment contract or staff regulations may also contain a higher percentage.
When may my employer really stop paying wages?
Only in the cases of article 7:629(3) of the Civil Code: among others, if you refuse suitable work without good reason, obstruct your recovery, do not cooperate with reasonable reintegration instructions or with the plan of action, or if you caused the illness intentionally. In those cases your right to wages lapses for the time that situation lasts. If you correct your behaviour, the right revives from that moment — a wage stop is not a retroactive penalty over the entire period. Here too, the duty to inform under paragraph 7 applies.
Suspending and stopping — what is the difference?
Suspending means postponing payment, stopping means losing the right to wages; they are two different powers with different grounds. Under paragraph 6, your employer may suspend payment only if you do not comply with his reasonable monitoring rules given in writing — you cannot be reached, you do not attend the company doctor’s consultation. If it then turns out that you were indeed ill, the suspended wages must still be paid in full. With a wage stop under paragraph 3, you no longer receive those wages.
That distinction is often confused in practice. In a judgment of the Limburg District Court (ECLI:NL:RBLIM:2019:2590), an employer spoke of "suspension" while the ground relied on was in paragraph 3; the subdistrict court judge considered that suspension can only be at issue if the absence rules of paragraph 6 are not complied with.
By way of illustration. An employee reports sick and twice misses an appointment with the company doctor. The employer writes that he is "stopping the wages". It later appears from the company doctor’s assessment that the employee was unfit for work all along. Because the missed consultation concerns a monitoring rule, the employer could at most suspend payment — and suspended wages must still be paid as soon as the illness is established. This is an example situation illustrating the rule, not a case handled by our firm.
What is an expert opinion and why do I need it?
Without a statement from an expert appointed by the UWV, the court will in principle reject your wage claim (article 7:629a of the Civil Code). That statement concerns the question whether you were prevented from doing your work or other suitable work, or whether you complied with your reintegration obligations. The exception applies if your employer does not dispute the incapacity for work at all, or if you cannot reasonably be required to submit the statement. So apply for the opinion in time: it takes weeks, and without that document you are empty-handed.
What time limits apply?
Your claim for payment of wages becomes time-barred after five years, counted from the day after the day on which payment became due (article 3:308 of the Civil Code). If wages are paid late and this is attributable to your employer, you are in addition entitled to the statutory increase under article 7:625 of the Civil Code: from the fourth working day after the payment date 5% per day, then 1% per day, up to a maximum of half the amount owed. The court can reduce that increase. You can read more about claiming the wages themselves on our page on the wage claim.
When things go wrong
You let it drag on for months. Your wages do not arrive in your account, you wait for a solution, and meanwhile the arrears mount while your employer relies on tacit consent. Respond in writing, immediately.
You go to court without an expert opinion. In principle, a rejection then follows on the basis of article 7:629a of the Civil Code — and you have lost that time.
You stop cooperating in protest. Not attending the company doctor or refusing reintegration still gives your employer a ground to suspend or stop your wages. However unjustified the first wage stop was: keep fulfilling your own obligations.
Present your situation
Call 070 450 0300 or send your documents via arslan.nl/contact. The first consultation is free of charge and confidential. We have six offices and can also help you in Turkish, Polish and English.