Sick pay: the government wants a 70% cap after 6 months — what it is, and what an agency worker gets today

In short: In the Netherlands an employer must continue paying at least 70% of your wage for two
years (104 weeks) when you’re ill — that’s the law. In practice collective agreements often top this
up to 100% in the first year. On 9 September 2026 Minister for Work and Participation Aartsen sent
scenarios to parliament: under one of them, after six months of illness the top-up could be no more
than 70%, which the government calculates would save employers €1.4 billion a year. This is not a
decision yet, it’s a basis for debate. As an agency worker, today’s rule is what matters: since 2026
your sick pay follows the client company’s CAO — the legal floor is 70%.

What’s the rule today?

Under Dutch law (loondoorbetaling bij ziekte), if you fall ill your employer must continue paying your
wage for 104 weeks, at at least 70% — and in the first year not below the statutory minimum
wage. CAOs almost always improve on this: about half of all employees get 100% in the first year,
and often more than 70% in the second.

For agency work the logic has been different since 1 January 2026: your sick pay follows the client
company’s CAO (the fixed 90% rule of the agency-work CAO is gone). So if you’re placed in a meat
plant, the meat industry CAO’s sick-pay rule applies to you; in a warehouse, the logistics one. If the
client has no CAO, the legal floor: 70%. In phase A, reporting sick does not by itself end your
contract — but if the assignment ends, the payment may move to the UWV (Ziektewet)*¹.

What is the government proposing?

Minister Aartsen sent four scenario documents to the Tweede Kamer. The headline one:

• Capping the CAO top-up: after six months of illness the law would allow at most 70%, even
  where the CAO says more. Government estimate: €1.4 billion a year saved by employers.
• Shorter continued payment: 78 or 52 weeks instead of 104 — which the government itself considers
  expensive, because the cost would shift to the disability system (WIA), in the order of €1.9–4.6
  billion*².
• A collective fund for small employers’ second year, plus smaller procedural relief.

The reasoning: employers — especially small ones, 45% of whom say the sick-pay burden stops them from
offering permanent contracts — are afraid to hire, and long, high sick pay doesn’t encourage a return
to work. The unions (CNV, FNV) are sharply opposed: the cabinet has no business at the collective
bargaining table, they say, and a cap would force people to work while ill.

How certain is it?

Not certain. The document lays out options, not a bill; the government “wants to talk” to
parliament and the social partners, and the analysis of bottlenecks in the WIA system is only due at
the end of 2026. If a law comes out of this, it’s unlikely before 2027–2028. We’ll update this article
if the scenario turns into a proposal.

What does it mean for you as an agency worker?

Today, nothing — tomorrow, perhaps, that a longer illness gets financially harder. What’s worth knowing
already:

• Which CAO is your sick pay calculated under? The client’s — ask the agency in writing what
  percentage applies in the first and second year.
• The rule for reporting sick: on day one, to the agency (not just the shift leader at the plant),
  in the way the agency prescribes. Report late and your pay starts late too.
• If the assignment ends while you’re ill, ask who continues paying: the agency or the UWV.

What to do now

1. Ask in writing for the client’s CAO sick-pay rule (first-year %, second-year %, whether there’s
   a waiting day).
2. Find out where and how to report sick at your agency — phone number, time window, form.
3. Follow the news: if the 70% cap becomes a bill, we’ll explain here what it means under your CAO.

Related listings: Current listings on jobSCAN →
The “Directly from the advertiser” label shows when a listing wasn’t posted by an agency — there, the company’s own CAO is the benchmark.

* Notes — where no exact or citable figure exists:
*¹ The switch to the Ziektewet when an assignment ends follows from the agency-work CAO and UWV rules; this article has not checked the details (waiting day, percentage).
*² The €1.9–4.6 billion range comes from press coverage (IamExpat); we have not read the government’s scenario document directly.

Sources: Salaris Vanmorgen — Scenario’s loondoorbetaling bij ziekte, meer werkbaar voor werkgevers (2026-09-09) · IamExpat — Why the Netherlands wants to cap full sick pay for employees (2026-09-10) · Sazas — Loondoorbetaling bij ziekte: 2 jaar minimaal 70% (2026) · ABU — CAO voor Uitzendkrachten 2026–2028 (2026-01) · SUSA — Ziekte, feestdagen & vakantiedagen in de ABU-cao 2026 (2026)