ZIEKTE EN RE-INTEGRATIE

Resigning during illness

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Do you want to resign during illness yourself? Or are you going to leave sick? Read about your rights and obligations here.

Resigning during illness is a delicate matter that requires careful consideration. As an employee, you have certain rights and obligations that you need to know before taking this step. In this blog, we explain all about your employment law position, including your right to continued pay during illness, the obligations you have toward your employer, and the possible impact on your benefits.

Resigning yourself during illness

Work incapacity is a notice prohibition. This means that the employer may not dismiss you if you are unable to perform your work (in part) due to illness. Nevertheless, it is possible to come to a joint termination of the employment contract, or you may resign yourself.

Situations in which it is not wise to resign.

When you are incapacitated for work, in most cases it is not wise to resign yourself. This is because it will affect any sickness benefits.

In fact, as an incapacitated employee, you are entitled to continued payment of wages. Only when you have been disabled for more than 104 weeks (2 years) is it possible for the employer to dismiss you. Permission from the UWV is required for this. Until these 104 weeks you remain entitled to salary. If you resign, you will miss out on this salary. In such a situation, the UWV will rule that you are culpably unemployed when applying for sickness benefits. According to the UWV, there is a act of disadvantage. The UWV would then have to vouch for the lost wages, which will void the right to sick benefits.

Situations in which it does make sense to resign.

There are also situations where resigning yourself during illness may be wise, namely:

When an employee situational disability. This means that the employee is disabled only when he is employed by a specific employer. If the employee leaves that employer, then he is no longer disabled. An example of such a situation is when the employee is harassed by co-workers or supervisors, causing mental or physical complaints. Since the employee becomes fit for work again by leaving the employer, there is no need to apply for benefits. Thus, in this situation, it may be possibility to have to resign while on disability.

According to the UWV, you are also entitled to benefits if the you leave your job due to a mental condition at the time you resigned, or it is harmful to your health to continue working for the employer. Whether this is the case is determined by a UWV doctor. If the doctor judges that there was one of these two situations, then there is possibility to have entitlement to benefits.

Transitional allowance in case of illness

A transition allowance is an allowance for the transition to a new job. You are entitled to transition compensation after 2 years of illness if your employer fires you. The amount of the transition compensation depends on the length of employment and the amount of salary.

In principle, there is no right to compensation if you resign yourself. You choose to terminate the employment contract. However, there is an exception when you have resigned due to serious culpable actions or omissions by the employer. It is then the employer's fault that the employment contract is not continued. Think for example of a threat by the employer, causing you to resign. In this situation, you do have the right to a transition allowance.

Settlement agreement in case of illness

If you resign during illness and are still entitled to wages, you are not entitled to a transition allowance and the right to ZW benefits lapses. With no prospect of another job, this is not an ideal scenario. For this reason, in some situations it is wiser for an employee to reach a solution together with an employer. This can be done by means of a Settlement agreement.

A settlement agreement is and agreement where employee and employer come to a joint agreement for the termination of the employment relationship. The advantage of this is that the employer is usually willing to pay severance pay. This gives you financial compensation for the work you have done, so that you can bridge the period until a new job. The employer must also comply with the notice period. For this period, you remain entitled to your wages. Please note! never sign a settlement agreement when you have no concrete prospect of getting better within a short period of time.

As with resigning, the UWV views signing a settlement agreement during illness as an act of prejudice. You lose the right to wages, so the UWV will rule that you are culpably unemployed. As a result, you are again not entitled to sickness benefits. Signing a settlement agreement during occupational disability is only advisable if there is situational disability or if you are sure that you will get better within a short period of time. This is because there is no need to apply for benefits. Should you most likely have to claim sickness benefit, signing is not wise.

Becoming sick after dismissal

If you have been laid off as an employee and fall ill shortly afterwards, you can apply for sickness benefits through the UWV. A condition for this is that you have already obtained unemployment benefit. However, if you become unfit for work after yourself have resigned, in most situations there is no right to WW benefits. This is because you are culpably unemployed.

Exceptions to this are:

Seriously culpable acts or omissions of the employer;
There is a mental state at the time you resigned;
It is harmful to your health to continue doing work for the employer.

If you become ill after resigning, you should report sick to the UWV. The UWV will then assess whether or not you are entitled to sickness benefits.

Questions about resigning yourself during illness

Are you considering resigning, currently on disability and have questions? Please contact us. We can inform you on termination of the employment while on sick leave.

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