The simplified WIA assessment for over-60s is a temporary scheme from the UWV. If you have been ill for two years (104 weeks) on or after 1 September 2025 and you are 60 years or older at that moment, a labour expert can assess your application without the usual socio-medical examination by an insurance physician. If you can still earn 65% or less of your old wage, you usually receive the maximum WGA benefit: 70% of your WIA monthly wage. The assessment only goes ahead if you and your (former) employer both agree to it.
In this article you will read who the simplified WIA assessment applies to, how the labour expert makes the assessment, which benefit can come out of it and what the scheme means for employers. You will also read what you have to supply yourself and what you can do if you disagree with the decision.
What is the simplified WIA assessment?
The simplified WIA assessment is a faster way to grant a WIA benefit to older applicants. In a normal application an insurance physician first does a socio-medical assessment and then a labour expert looks at your earning capacity. In the simplified variant that first step lapses: only a labour expert assesses your situation.
The UWV introduced this route to shorten the waiting times for the usual examination. It is explicitly a temporary measure, intended for a specific group. The simplified assessment does not apply, incidentally, to a reassessment of your WIA benefit; that runs through the regular procedure.
Who does the scheme apply to?
You qualify for the simplified assessment if you meet two core conditions: you have been ill for two years (104 weeks) on or after 1 September 2025, and you are 60 years or older at that moment. These two years tie in with the period of continued pay and second-track reintegration that precedes a WIA application.
Even if you receive compulsory continued pay for longer than two years, you can fall under the scheme. That can be the case in two situations:
- You are 104 weeks ill on or after 1 September 2025 and 60 years or older at that moment.
- You became 104 weeks ill between 1 October 2022 and 31 December 2024 and were 60 years or older at that moment.
In that second situation you cannot choose the simplified assessment yourself; the UWV then determines whether the scheme applies.
How does the assessment work?
The labour expert gets in touch with you, explains how the simplified assessment works and asks whether you agree to it. Agreement is a hard condition: both you and your (former) employer have to agree. Without that double agreement, your application runs through the ordinary WIA assessment by the UWV with an insurance physician.
The labour expert then looks at how much you can still earn compared with your old wage. The table below sets out the main differences with the regular route.
| Feature | Ordinary WIA assessment | Simplified assessment over-60s |
|---|---|---|
| Who assesses | Insurance physician and labour expert | Only a labour expert |
| Socio-medical examination | Yes | No |
| Agreement needed | No | Yes, from applicant and (former) employer |
| Age requirement | None | 60 years or older at 104 weeks of illness |
| At reassessment | Applies | Does not apply |
Which benefit do you receive?
The outcome depends on your earning capacity. If you can still earn 65% or less of your old wage, you usually receive a WIA benefit, and without a socio-medical assessment. That is then the maximum WGA benefit, which amounts to 70% of your WIA monthly wage.
If the information shows that you can no longer work, or barely, until your state pension age, the UWV looks in a conversation at whether an IVA benefit fits better. If no IVA comes out of that, you keep the WGA benefit. If you want to know exactly how such an amount is arrived at, read how you calculate the level of your WIA benefit.
The WIA application: what do you supply?
The simplified assessment changes nothing about the application itself. As a (former) employee you apply for the WIA. In addition, your (former) employer or you yourself send a full reintegration report, setting out what has been done in terms of reintegration over the past two years.
If you no longer have an employer at the moment of the application, the UWV uses the information from your sickness benefit period to make the assessment. In all cases, make sure your application is in on time, so that no gap falls between the end of your continued pay and the start of your benefit.
What does this mean for employers?
For employers the simplified assessment usually has no adverse consequences for the premium. If you are not an own-risk bearer as an employer, the simplified assessment has no consequences for your differentiated premium.
If you are an own-risk bearer for the WGA, you remain responsible for the reintegration of your (former) employee. The UWV pays the benefit in that case, but the reintegration obligation stays with you. Employers who want to know how to set up the process for that will find more explanation on the page about second-track reintegration for employers.
Disagree with the decision?
If you disagree with the UWV’s decision, you can object. That can be done by post or online. Set out clearly in your objection why you disagree with the outcome, and keep an eye on the objection deadline stated on the decision.
Where do you find the official scheme?
The full conditions are on the UWV website, on the page about the simplified WIA assessment for over-60s. Because this is a temporary scheme, the conditions and the term can change. So for a concrete application, always check the most current information with the UWV.
Frequently asked questions
Can I choose the simplified assessment myself? If you are 104 weeks ill on or after 1 September 2025 and are then 60 years or older, the assessment only goes ahead with your agreement and that of your (former) employer. If you fall under the scheme because you became ill between 1 October 2022 and 31 December 2024, you cannot choose yourself; the UWV then determines whether the scheme applies.
Do I always get 70% of my WIA monthly wage? You get the maximum WGA benefit of 70% of your WIA monthly wage if you can still earn 65% or less of your old wage. If you can work not at all or barely until your state pension age, the UWV looks at whether an IVA benefit is more suitable.
Does the scheme also apply to a reassessment? No. The simplified assessment applies only to a first WIA application, not to a reassessment of a running benefit.
What if I no longer have an employer? Then the UWV uses the information from your sickness benefit period to make the assessment. You do not then have to supply a reintegration report from an employer.
Questions about your WIA application or the second track?
Care4Careers has guided employees and employers through illness, reintegration and the transition to the WIA for more than thirty years. We know the legal frameworks and the reality of the labour market, and we help you get an application and a file in order. Are you unsure whether your situation falls under the simplified assessment, or how best to set up the second track? Request a no-obligation advisory conversation and we will look together at the best next step.