Leaving employment while ill: contract end, sickness benefit and your file

1. First check why the contract is ending

A fixed-term employment contract can expire automatically during illness. This differs from early dismissal because of illness or a VSO to which you consent. Check whether the contract is still genuinely fixed-term: previous agreements and successive employers may already have created a permanent contract. Ask the employer to confirm the end date and legal basis in writing.

Do not sign an earlier termination while ill simply because HR says it would be easier. You may give up pay rights and encounter problems with sickness benefit at the same time. Have any proposed agreement reviewed beforehand. A request to report recovery before leaving also needs attention: records and notifications must correctly reflect your actual health.

2. Who reports your illness to UWV?

UWV normally places responsibility for the notification on the employer. The employer reports on the last day of employment; if that day falls on a weekend or official public holiday, UWV must receive it on the next working day. Ask for confirmation and check messages in Mijn UWV. A verbal promise that everything is arranged does not show whether it was processed.

If the notification is missing or unclear, contact UWV yourself and explain your contract end date and first sickness date. Keep your original sickness report and HR correspondence. For agency work, also check the applicable collective agreement and whether the contract lawfully ends. Ending only an assignment does not answer that question.

3. Reintegration documents and handover

The documents needed depend on how long you have been ill when leaving. A full or abbreviated reintegration report may be required. Ask in good time for the problem analysis, action plan, evaluations and current assessment. Check the facts and add your view if the report misrepresents arrangements or efforts. UWV generally distinguishes no report when employment ends within six weeks of the first sick day, a shortened report between six and ten weeks, and a complete report from ten weeks. Check exceptions, including employer self-insurance, and the benefit letter’s requirements; send medical information yourself through the medical route.

Medical information must be handled separately. Your employer does not need your entire medical file to organise the handover. Ask who your contact will be after the end date and which arrangements temporarily continue. A useful handover describes what you can do, steps already tried and what remains necessary; a folder of unsorted forms offers little help.

4. Benefits and support after departure

After notification, UWV assesses entitlement to Ziektewet sickness benefit. UWV mentions an assessment within four weeks of notification. This does not guarantee automatic approval in every case. Read information requests and decisions carefully. The amount, duration and payment may differ from pay during employment. Make a realistic income plan for the transition.

If your former employer is self-insured for the Ziektewet, it or an administrator may remain involved in payment and reintegration. Ask about that status and contact details. In an ordinary transfer, UWV guides reintegration. A different payer does not erase the first sickness date: ending employment does not restart the maximum sickness period.

5. Settle pay, leave and compensation

Check pay until the end date and the applicable collective-agreement supplement during illness. Then request final accounts including holiday allowance and unused annual leave hours that remain valid. Illness does not automatically cancel all accrued leave. A transition payment may be due if the employer decides not to renew. Renewal notification may also matter for a fixed-term contract of at least six months.

The benefit application and these financial entitlements are separate matters. A promise that UWV will pay later does not replace final accounts. A court request solely about a transition payment generally has a three-month period after the contract ends; for renewal-notification compensation, two months. Seek help promptly if amounts are missing, so waiting for benefits does not let a short court deadline expire.

6. If you become ill only after leaving

Becoming ill after the end date differs from leaving employment already ill. UWV states that someone becoming ill within four weeks after employment ends, who has not yet received WW, may sometimes request sickness benefit themselves by telephone. If receiving WW, follow that benefit’s sickness reporting rules. Do not rely on the process used by a colleague in a different situation.

Record precisely when symptoms made you unable to perform your work, which benefit was already running and whether a new job had started. These facts determine which authority and employer are involved. If you disagree with a benefit decision, monitor its objection instructions separately. A dispute with your former employer does not stop that deadline.

Practical checklist

• Check the legal basis for the contract ending.
• Ask for confirmation of the first sickness date and UWV notification.
• Obtain and check the reintegration report.
• Ask who will pay and guide you after departure.
• Check final accounts and short compensation deadlines.