Redundant While on Sick Leave: Rights, Duties and Outplacement

Your role is being scrapped or has already been scrapped, while you are (partially) unfit for work and still employed. In other words, you have called in sick, you are receiving pay from your employer, and at the same time it is clear that in due course there will no longer be a place for you in the organisation. This combination raises many questions about reintegration, dismissal protection and your future on the labour market. In this article you can read how this works legally, which steps are sensible and what role outplacement can play.

What exactly does being redundant while on sick leave mean?

Under Dutch employment law, you are redundant (boventallig) when your role is structurally scrapped, for example through a reorganisation or another change within the organisation. That is separate from the question of whether or not you are ill. During sickness the duty to continue paying wages and the duty to reintegrate apply, whereas redundancy is about your job position disappearing. Those two processes can exist alongside one another and influence each other.

When you are ill and are declared redundant at the same time, your legal position does not immediately change in terms of dismissal protection. In principle the employer may not dismiss you on grounds of illness during the first two years of sickness, except in exceptional situations such as a business closure. The employer can, however, already start preparing a reorganisation, draw up a redundancy plan (sociaal plan) and indicate that your role will not be coming back.

In practice this often creates uncertainty. You are focusing on recovery and reintegration, while you actually already know that there is no longer a structural place for you within the organisation. It is precisely in that situation that a combination of reintegration, career orientation and a suitable outplacement programme can help you regain a grip on your career.

• Redundant: your role is structurally scrapped due to organisational change.
• Ill: you are (partially) unfit for work and receiving treatment.
• Reintegration: a statutory programme to make a return to work possible.
• Outplacement: professional guidance towards a new job outside the organisation.

How do illness, reintegration and redundancy relate to one another?

During sickness the Gatekeeper Improvement Act (Wet verbetering poortwachter) applies. That act imposes reintegration obligations on both employer and employee. The company doctor (bedrijfsarts) assesses how much you can cope with and advises on returning to work. At the same time, for economic business reasons or a reorganisation, the employer may decide that your role is being scrapped and that you are becoming redundant. That is permitted, provided the employer continues to support your reintegration.

During the first two years of sickness the employer may as a rule not dismiss you on grounds of illness. Dismissal for economic business reasons during sickness is possible in exceptional situations, for example in the event of a complete business closure. In most cases an employer will therefore wait to carry out an actual dismissal until after the period of continued wage payment, but may already indicate now that you are redundant and that there is no longer a lasting place in your former role.

Reintegration remains obligatory during that period. That may mean you temporarily do suitable work in a different department or role, while everyone knows this is not a definitive solution. It is in that tension that the question often arises of whether a programme directed outside the organisation, such as outplacement during sick leave, is not more worthwhile than focusing solely on returning to a role that no longer exists.

• Reintegration obligations continue, even when you are redundant.
• Dismissal protection during sickness in principle still applies.
• Suitable internal work can be temporary rather than structural.
• Outplacement can run in parallel with reintegration, provided it is properly aligned.

What an employer may and may not do during sick leave

In the Netherlands an employer has a dual obligation: on the one hand, during sickness they must continue paying wages for up to two years and promote reintegration; on the other hand, they may scrap roles where there is an economic business necessity. Under the Dutch Civil Code and the Gatekeeper Improvement Act, an employer may not dismiss you on grounds of illness during the first two years, but they may give timely notice that your role is being scrapped and that you are becoming redundant.

In that case the employer must act carefully. Among other things, that means the reintegration efforts must not be neglected because you are redundant. The company doctor and the occupational health service (arbodienst) remain involved, there must be an action plan (plan van aanpak) and regular evaluation moments must take place. The UWV (the Dutch employee insurance agency) assesses afterwards whether the employer did enough to help you reintegrate.

In addition, where there is a reorganisation, the employer must apply objective selection criteria (for example the reflection principle (afspiegelingsbeginsel)) and take social agreements, such as a redundancy plan, into account. Such a redundancy plan often also sets out whether and how outplacement support is offered to redundant employees, even when they are ill.

• The employer may scrap your role, including during sickness.
• Dismissal on grounds of illness in principle remains prohibited during the first two years.
• Reintegration efforts must be demonstrable and serious.
• A redundancy plan can offer extra certainties, such as outplacement.

Employee rights: protection, WIA and dismissal during sickness

As an employee you have strong dismissal protection during sickness. During the first two years of sickness the employer may in principle not dismiss you on grounds of your incapacity for work. After that period the UWV (Uitvoeringsinstituut Werknemersverzekeringen, the Dutch employee insurance agency) assesses whether you qualify for a WIA benefit (Wet werk en inkomen naar arbeidsvermogen, the Work and Income according to Labour Capacity Act). The WIA assesses to what extent you can lastingly earn less because of illness or disability.

The fact that you are redundant does not change your right to continued wage payment and reintegration during those first two years. Redundancy can, however, influence the direction of your reintegration. If it is clear that there is no longer a lasting place within your own organisation, reintegration outside the organisation (second track / spoor 2 or an outplacement-style approach) can be brought forward.

Dismissal during sickness is only permitted in exceptional cases, for example in the event of a complete business closure or if you refuse to cooperate with reintegration. In the case of a termination by mutual consent via a settlement agreement (vaststellingsovereenkomst), extra care must be taken to consider the consequences for your benefit entitlements. During sickness a VSO is legally and practically more sensitive, as is also explained in articles about dismissal during sickness and dismissal due to illness.

• A dismissal ban during sickness in the first two years of illness.
• The right to a WIA assessment after two years of sickness.
• Redundancy does not directly change your dismissal protection.
• A settlement agreement during sickness calls for extra care.

How can outplacement help if you are redundant while on sick leave?

Outplacement is professional guidance towards new work outside your current organisation after (looming) dismissal. For someone who is redundant while on sick leave, outplacement can be a way to combine reintegration and career development. Instead of looking only at returning to a role that is disappearing, you focus on a lasting next step that suits how much you can cope with, your talents and your wishes.

An experienced outplacement coach takes account of your medical situation, the company doctor’s advice and the legal frameworks. At Care4Careers, outplacement is always aligned with what is medically responsible. That means, for example, that at the start you mainly work on self-insight and how much you can cope with, and only later start applying for jobs more intensively. In this way the programme remains suitable within the reintegration obligations and you avoid overexertion.

Many employees find it helpful that, alongside the formal reintegration, someone is also looking at their future prospects. Whereas reintegration is mainly aimed at returning to work, outplacement focuses on a new, lasting place on the labour market. What such an outplacement programme looks like in concrete terms differs from person to person, but often has fixed building blocks.

• An analysis of how much you can cope with and your options, based on medical advice.
• Career scans and conversations to determine direction.
• Guidance in searching for suitable work outside the organisation.
• Alignment with reintegration and UWV requirements to prevent problems.

In practice: redundant while on sick leave

Suppose you work as a team leader in a care institution and you drop out with burnout. After a few months of reintegration you hear that the organisation is going to reorganise and that your layer of management is being removed. You are declared redundant. The company doctor indicates that for the time being you cannot yet work full time and that you should do tasks with less responsibility. Internally there is temporarily suitable work available, but it is clear that this is not a structural solution.

In this example, alongside continuing the reintegration, the employer can offer an outplacement programme. In the first phase you focus together with the coach on recovery, recognising your limits and your wishes for the future. After that you explore which roles better suit how much you can cope with, for example an advisory role without managerial responsibility. Throughout the programme you stay in contact with the company doctor and it is agreed what is feasible in terms of hours and tasks.

Another example: you are a production worker, become ill long term due to physical complaints, and the factory decides to move part of production abroad. Your role disappears. The company doctor sees possibilities for lighter work in due course, but within the company there is barely any room for that. In consultation, a programme is started that resembles outplacement when there is no return to your former role. You explore occupations with less physical strain and learn how to translate your experience to other sectors.

• Burnout example: a combination of recovery, orientation and outplacement.
• Physical complaints example: searching for less demanding work outside the sector.
• Always alignment with the company doctor and reintegration obligations.
• A focus on sustainable employability rather than merely a quick return.

Step by step: what you can do yourself

If you have been declared redundant while you are ill, that often feels powerless. Yet there are concrete steps you can take yourself to create an overview and strengthen your position. It starts with clarity: ask your employer for written confirmation of your redundancy and ask for an explanation of the reorganisation process, the redundancy plan and the consequences for your role.

Next, it is sensible to map out your rights and duties. Discuss with the company doctor what is medically possible and ask for clear advice on reintegration steps. In addition, you can seek legal or HR advice about your position in the case of redundancy and sickness, for example about reintegration, possible future dismissal routes and your chances of a benefit. Articles about being declared redundant and about dismissal provide extra context here.

Alongside this, you can explore whether your employer is willing to fund some form of outplacement or career coaching via Care4Careers. Many employers see this as an investment in a careful conclusion, certainly when it is clear that there is little future prospect internally. A coach can help you order your story, see new possibilities and make a realistic plan, without losing sight of your reintegration obligations.

• Ask for written clarity about redundancy and the reorganisation.
• Discuss how much you can cope with and your options with the company doctor.
• Orient yourself on your legal position and benefit entitlements.
• Explore the possibility of outplacement or career coaching.

Outplacement, reintegration and UWV: avoiding problems later

The UWV assesses afterwards whether the employer and employee did enough regarding reintegration. That happens, for example, in the case of a WIA application after two years of sickness or in the case of a dismissal request for economic business reasons. If it turns out that the reintegration efforts were insufficient, the UWV can impose a wage sanction (loonsanctie) on the employer. That is why it is important that outplacement and reintegration align well with one another.

In practice this means that the activities in an outplacement programme must fit with your medical capacity and with the steps in the action plan. Job application activities, orientation towards other work and labour-market exploration can be combined well with reintegration in adapted work. Certainly in the case of long-term illness and little prospect of returning to the former role, a programme resembling a third track or outplacement in the third track is an obvious choice.

In the case of a termination by mutual consent via a settlement agreement too, the UWV looks at the question of whether you did not culpably cooperate in your dismissal. That is why it is important that a VSO carefully sets out the reason for termination, what your sickness and reintegration situation is and what guidance you receive. Knowledge of terms such as transition payment (transitievergoeding), settlement agreement (vaststellingsovereenkomst) and the notional notice period (fictieve opzegtermijn), as explained in articles about the transition payment and the settlement agreement, helps you weigh up choices properly.

• Align outplacement activities with the reintegration action plan.
• Set out agreements about illness, reintegration and guidance clearly.
• Take future assessments by the UWV into account.
• Seek independent legal or HR advice if in doubt.

In short: redundancy during sick leave and outplacement

Being redundant while on sick leave is a complex situation in which various legal, medical and career questions come together. Your role disappears, while at the same time you are focusing on recovery and reintegration. Dismissal protection during sickness in principle remains in place during the first two years, but the prospect of returning to your former role is often limited or absent.

Employer and employee must handle their mutual obligations carefully in this phase. The employer must continue to invest in reintegration, even when you are redundant, and you must cooperate with suitable steps towards work. At the same time it can be worthwhile to look further than just returning to your own company and to explore which lasting possibilities exist on the labour market.

Outplacement can be a valuable instrument in this context. It helps you map out how much you can cope with, your talents and your wishes again, and guides you step by step towards a suitable, feasible next step outside the organisation. By aligning reintegration, outplacement and the UWV rules well, you increase the chance of a future-proof solution, both for yourself and for your employer.

Redundant and ill? Then extra reintegration obligations apply. Discover what a second-track programme (spoor 2) involves for you.