Also entitled to a transition payment if you were already ill for two years before July 1, 2015?

The Work and Security Act (WWZ) came into effect on July 1, 2015. With the introduction of the WWZ, employees who were dismissed due to two years of illness gained the right to receive the statutory transition payment. A ruling by the Noord-Holland District Court showed that an employee who was already ill for two years before July 1, 2015, is also entitled to a transition payment under certain circumstances.

The employee in question had been experiencing medical complaints for a long time. The waiting period ended on January 5, 2015 (the period of two years that an employer must continue to pay the salary). Because a significant recovery of work capacity was expected with an operation, a reassessment was requested and the employee continued to perform suitable work. In March 2017, the UWV finally determined that the degree of the employee’s incapacity for work remained unchanged at 80 to 100%.

From that moment on, the employee was no longer called in for work and the employment contract was kept dormant. The employee’s request in November 2019 to terminate the employment contract with payment of the transition payment was also rejected by the employer, after which the employee claimed this in summary proceedings.

In the opinion of the subdistrict court, it follows from the Supreme Court’s judgment that when a dormant employment contract is terminated, the entitlement to a transition payment must be assessed according to the time at which the employment contract could have been terminated. Because until the beginning of 2017it was advised to call in the employee for suitable work (andthe employee also continued to work), the subdistrict court is of the opinion that only inMarch 2017, when the UWV had decided that the degree of incapacity for workremained unchanged at 80 to 100%, were the requirements for termination ofthe employment contract met. The employee can therefore claim the transition payment.