Transitional Compensation & Illness: Your Rights Explanation

Questioner

My husband is a teacher by profession and will celebrate his 40th anniversary on August 1, 2017. Current age: 63 years. Unfortunately, things haven't been going well for him lately and he passed away last February, after consultation with the director, reported sick immediately. Various examinations by the neurologist have now shown that my husband has a brain disorder. But our biggest fear is that he will eventually is diagnosed with dementia. The chance that he will return to the workforce is therefore virtually nil. Now last week we had a meeting with the company doctor and he told us also that my husband will eventually be entitled to one transition payment. My question now is, is what the company doctor said correct? says and my husband has after a period of illness of 2 years (in 2019) entitled to the said compensation. Because I am currently on my own and want to prepare myself for what is to come, I am delving into everything and therefore also in the doctor's statement. Thank you in advance for your efforts.

Lawyer

Dear, Your husband is ill. An employer is obliged to continue paying wages in the event of illness, for 104 weeks, which indeed brings us to 2019. During this period, the employer and your husband will have to draw up a reintegration plan and meet reintegration efforts. Only after 104 weeks can an employer apply for a dismissal permit from the UWV. The UWV will then also assess whether the employer has made sufficient reintegration efforts, otherwise a wage sanction will follow and the employer will have to continue paying wages for a longer period. If the employer has done enough to integrate your husband into his own position or into a suitable position within or outside the company, he can apply for a WIA benefit. Now it may be that, given your husband's age, certain reintegration efforts do not seem useful if it can actually be determined that returning is no longer possible. But your husband is not yet entitled to AOW, so it will take some time before he can actually stop working. It may be that your husband's employer does not want to work with your husband at an earlier stage because he is ill and the prospect of returning to work is nil. The employer may want to terminate the employment contract by mutual consent (i.e. without the intervention of the subdistrict court and/or UWV). This means that your husband then agrees to the dismissal by means of a settlement agreement. However, such a settlement agreement must be legally checked in order to safeguard all of your husband's rights. Additional information about his situation is then required in order to address all aspects that 'must' be included in such a settlement agreement in any case. Especially if he is still ill. Furthermore, in the event of such a dismissal by mutual consent, the employer will have to offer a transition payment. The amount of this transition payment depends on, among other things, the duration of the employment, the salary and personal situation. Please note that the amount is therefore partly based on the lower salary that your husband will receive during the period that he is ill (assuming that the employer does not continue to pay 100%). A lot of tax will also be deducted. It is therefore important to negotiate as well as possible when the time comes. If your husband is ill for the full 104 weeks, a problem may still arise. It is possible that the employer chooses to maintain the employment relationship dormant after 104 weeks of illness, in which case there will be no transition payment at all and your husband will not receive any salary either. This is because in fact there will be no dismissal but there is also no obligation to continue paying wages. Fortunately, the law has been amended in this regard, but it will come into effect on 1 January 2019 at the earliest and possibly even later. In any case, anything can still happen. It is best to only check at that time which legal provisions are still valid and apply then. And, if it does happen, get good advice from a legal expert. I don't think I've been able to make you any wiser. But unfortunately, in such situations it's difficult to give ready-made advice for the future.