Sick leave at a small business: steps you can't afford to miss
You hear it on a Monday morning: someone's called in sick. You send a kind message, wish them a speedy recovery, and get on with your day.
But depending on how long the sick leave lasts, there are follow-up steps waiting for you.
The Wet verbetering Poortwachter places a series of obligations on employers the moment an employee goes on extended sick leave, with deadlines that can fall weeks or even months later, and that are easy to forget when you're handling HR on top of everything else. The consequences of missing one are no joke: the UWV can require you to continue paying salary for up to 52 additional weeks.
Here's what you need to know.
What the law requires of you
The Wet verbetering Poortwachter has one goal: preventing employees from staying home longer than necessary. To achieve that, it places employers under a step-by-step plan with fixed deadlines.
Day 1 — Register the first day of sick leave
The moment an employee calls in sick, you record their first day of illness. That sounds simple, but it's the foundation for every deadline that follows, so if the sick leave goes on longer, make sure that date is registered correctly, because everything gets calculated from it.
Week 6 — Problem analysis
The company doctor maps out what the limitations are, what the employee is still able to do, and how long recovery is likely to take. This document is the basis for everything that comes after.
Week 8 — Reintegration plan
Employer and employee draw up a plan together: what are the reintegration goals, what adjustments are needed, what does the return to work look like? You put this plan in writing.
Ongoing — Evaluations
Every four to six weeks, you discuss progress, whether the plan needs adjusting, and what's going well or not so well. Document everything, because the UWV may ask for it later.
Week 42 — Report to the UWV
This is the deadline that gets missed most often. After 42 weeks of extended sick leave, you're required to notify the UWV, and submitting late almost automatically leads to a wage sanction.
Week 52 — First-year evaluation
One year after the first day of sick leave, you and the employee evaluate how reintegration has gone and what the plans are for the second year.
Week 88 — WIA preparation
If the employee still can't work after nearly two years, preparations begin for a WIA benefit application. The UWV sends information, employer and employee produce a final evaluation, and by week 93 at the latest the employee submits the application.
Year 2 — End of continued salary obligation
After two years of sick leave, your obligation to continue paying salary ends in principle, but only if you've followed all the steps correctly.
Why this goes wrong so often when you handle HR yourself
If you're the one writing the proposals, dealing with clients, and sending out invoices, handling HR on top of that is fine, as long as everyone is showing up to work.
But the moment someone is off for an extended period, you quickly discover how much is expected of you. Suddenly you need to arrange a contract with an occupational health service (mandatory, but something most people only sort out when they already need it), fill in the right forms and keep track of the right deadlines, all while covering the work of the person who's out.
And the whole time, the deadlines keep ticking.
How Heartsome keeps track
In Heartsome, you can see for each absent employee exactly where you are in the sick leave process, which actions are needed and when, and when a deadline is coming up.
The moment someone calls in sick, Heartsome starts counting. After two weeks, you automatically get a notification that the sick leave is now considered long-term, including the next steps. From that point, you see a full overview of all deadlines in the tool, from week 6 through to year 2, with reminders before a deadline passes, not after.
Here's what that looks like for an employee who's been off for a while:
Day 1 – reported sick: 13 April 2026
Week 6 – problem analysis: 25 May 2026
Week 8 – reintegration plan: 8 June 2026
Week 42 – UWV notification: 1 February 2027
Year 1 – first-year evaluation: 13 April 2027
Week 88 – WIA application: 20 December 2027
Year 2 – end of continued salary obligation: 12 April 2028
You don't have to keep track of it yourself. It's just there.
Frequently asked questions
Does the Wet verbetering Poortwachter apply if I only have a few employees?
Yes, the law applies to all employers in the Netherlands, regardless of size or sector, even if you only have one or two people on staff.
What happens if I miss a deadline?
The UWV can require you to continue paying salary for up to 52 additional weeks, which is a serious financial hit if you don't have a large buffer.
Do I need an occupational health service?
Yes, as an employer you're required to have a contract with a certified occupational health service or company doctor. This is something you arrange separately from Heartsome, and it's worth doing before your first employee starts.
What if the employee recovers before week 42?
Then the obligation for any steps not yet reached falls away, but it's still worth documenting everything, in case the employee goes off sick again later.
How do I use Heartsome for sick leave?
You report the employee as sick in Heartsome (or the employee reports themselves, depending on your settings), and the tool automatically calculates all the follow-up deadlines and sends you reminders.
How Heartsome helps
In Heartsome, you manage HR and sick leave in one place. Leave, sick leave, and employee records are all in the same environment, so you're no longer hunting through different tools and spreadsheets.
Or read more about Heartsome for small businesses →