Dutch Civil Code (Sickness Leave)

Pursuant to Article 7:629 of the Dutch Civil Code, employers are obliged to continue to pay the salaries of sick employees for the first two years of illness. The employer is obliged to pay 70% of the employee’s salary. The salary paid by the employer during the first year of sickness cannot be less than the minimum wage. For the second year, the minimum wage limit does not apply. The 70% is not calculated on the amount of salary that exceeds the maximum daily wage. Most employees in the Netherlands are bound to a diverging clause laid down in either an individual employment contract or a Collective Labour Agreement (such clauses are often more favourable to the employee).