Sickness absence insurance (verzuimverzekering) for healthcare
In healthcare, reporting an employee sick means missing not just a shift but a place in a rota that is already tight, while continuing to pay two years of wages to someone whose pay often includes a substantial share of allowances.
The calculator and the quote form below are in Dutch. Prefer to do this in English? Email info@finassverzekert. nl or call 072 - 509 24 56 and we will take it from there.
Work out for yourself what it would cost.
Enter your details; you will receive a proposal within one working day.
We compare the offerings of several insurers
An adviser checks whether the cover suits your activities
A premium indication, not personal advice. Prefer to talk it through? Call 072 - 509 24 56.
In brief
Sickness absence insurance (verzuimverzekering) covers the continued payment of wages that Article 7:629 of the Dutch Civil Code imposes on you during illness, for up to 104 weeks. In healthcare organisations the calculation differs from other sectors, because wages rarely consist of a monthly salary alone. Unsocial-hours allowances, on-call duties and overtime can make up a considerable part of the income. So check what your policy means by insured wages: if you insure only the basic salary, you keep the difference yourself.
Also pay attention to the safety-net schemes. For employees with a no-risk policy and for illness resulting from pregnancy or childbirth, the UWV pays a Sickness Benefits Act payment. Your absence insurer sets that payment off against what the policy pays. If you do not report such a case to the UWV, you miss out on the payment and the insurer will not fill that gap. In a sector with many returners and employees with a disability, that is a recurring point.
What is on your payroll is insured. Self-employed professionals, agency workers and seconded staff in the rota fall outside it, as do interns and volunteers without an employment contract. We look at your type of care, your part-time factor and the share of long-running cases, and assess whether a conventional policy is sufficient or whether it is better to include the guidance in your cover.
What does sickness absence insurance cover for healthcare?
The structure of the cover in three parts, with an overview per situation below.
Two years
Continued payment of wages
What you are legally required to continue paying.
First year one hundred per cent
Second year seventy per cent
A collective labour agreement may require more
The waiting period
Own retention
How many days you bear yourself.
Shorter is more expensive
Longer brings the premium down
Choose according to what you can bear
Optional
Support and case handling
Guidance with reintegration.
Case management
Gatekeeper Act monitoring
Risk of a wage sanction
What is covered
Situation
Conventional
Full-service option
Continued payment of wages during sickness
Yes
Yes
Guidance with reintegration
No
Yes
Risk of a wage sanction borne by the insurer
No
Yes
Occupational health services included
No
Sometimes
Cost of replacing a member of staff who is off sick
No
No
Sickness absence that already existed at inception
No
No
This overview is general in nature and is not personal advice. What is actually covered, including exclusions, limits and the excess, is set out in the policy conditions and the insurance card (verzekeringskaart) of the insurer; you receive both before you take out cover. Taking out cover without advice? Then read what execution only means for you.
Where things go wrong in practice
Four points that make the difference between a policy that pays out and one that does not.
Adapted work does exist, but it shifts the strain
Unlike in many sectors, a healthcare organisation usually does have suitable work: day shifts, less patient transfer work, administration or support. The problem is that this adaptation passes the heavier work on to the colleagues who cover the night and weekend shifts. That increases the chance of a second person falling ill. Record in the plan of action how long the adaptation will last and who bears the strain that is passed on.
Aggression, incidents and the case that follows
Absence after an incident of aggression, a needlestick injury or a distressing event involving a client often runs for a long time and takes a different course from physical absence. The policy continues to pay wages, whatever the cause. What the cause does determine is whether your employee holds you liable. That runs through Article 7:658 of the Dutch Civil Code and tests your duty of care: an aggression protocol, training, a lone-working policy and support after the incident. That claim does not fall under this policy.
Unsocial-hours allowances and declaring your wage bill
The collective labour agreement may require you to top up the first year of illness above the statutory minimum of 70 per cent, and allowances may count towards that. If you declare a wage bill without unsocial-hours and holiday allowances, the payment will not match what you actually transfer. Update the declaration each year and after changes to the collective agreement. A declaration that is too low leads to a proportionally reduced payment, at exactly the moment you need it.
What an absence policy does not cover in healthcare
The cover does not include the pregnancy and maternity leave itself (that is the WAZO benefit, not illness), absence already running on the start date, and the wages of self-employed professionals, agency workers, interns and volunteers. The costs of hiring in to fill the rota, fines from the Dutch Labour Authority and injury claims from employees also fall outside the cover. For absence after two years, WGA or WIA cover is needed.
What does your premium depend on?
Insured wage bill including allowances. Whether unsocial-hours allowances, on-call duties and holiday allowance are included in the insured wages.
Type of care. Home care, nursing home care, disability care, mental health care and maternity care each have their own absence pattern.
Part-time factor and workforce size. Many small contracts give a different picture from the same wage bill spread over a few full-timers.
Deferment period in working days. How many waiting days per case of illness you bear yourself before the payment starts.
Percentage of cover and collective agreement top-up. Whether you insure 70 or 100 per cent, and whether you include the top-up in the second year of illness.
Health and safety policy and speed of response. Lifting policy, aggression protocol and how quickly the company doctor and support staff become involved.
Insurers weigh these details differently. That is where your saving is.
How we arrange it
You request a quoteWe take stock of your situation, your risk and your wishes.
We compareseveral insurers, on premium as well as conditions.
You receive a proposalWith an explanation of the differences and the exclusions.
We arrange the switchIncluding cancellation, so there is no gap in cover.
Customers rate our service on four aspects: personal service, service delivery, availability and the outcome. The reviews are collected and published by NH1816 and come from customers who have actually taken out a policy with Finass Advies B.V. or reported a claim.
Does the unsocial-hours allowance count in the payment?
That depends on the definition of wages in your conditions and on what you have declared. Some insurers calculate with the fixed gross annual salary, others with the full social insurance wage including allowances. Because unsocial-hours allowances can be a substantial part of income in healthcare, this is the first point to check before you compare premiums.
Are self-employed professionals and agency workers in my rota covered?
No. The cover follows your obligation to continue paying wages, and you only have that towards your own employees. Anyone working a shift through an agency or as a self-employed professional falls outside your wage bill and outside the policy. Do not include that hired-in work in your declaration either: you would then pay a premium on a risk the insurer does not run.
What happens with absence around pregnancy?
Pregnancy and maternity leave itself is not an illness and falls under the WAZO benefit from the UWV. If an employee becomes ill before or after that as a result of the pregnancy or the birth, wages do continue to be paid, but the Sickness Benefits Act gives entitlement to a safety-net payment. Report that to the UWV. Your absence insurer sets that payment off against the payment under the policy.
Is absence after an incident of aggression covered?
The continued payment of wages is: for the absence policy the cause of the illness makes no difference. What is not included is the loss the employee themselves suffers and recovers from you under Article 7:658 of the Dutch Civil Code, nor the costs of support, aftercare or extra security. For those you look to employer's liability and your health and safety budget.
Finass Verzekert is a trading name of Finass Advies B.V. We advise on and arrange non-life insurance on the basis of an objective analysis of several insurers, and receive commission for this from the insurer, which is included in the premium. You pay no separate advice fee. Before you take out cover, we establish your wishes and needs.
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