More and more older people who have reached the state pension age are choosing to remain active and (continue to) work. In 2016, the Law on Working after the AOW age was introduced, with the government taking measures to make it more attractive for employers to enter into employment contracts with employees who have already reached the AOW age. Thus, there are a number of options in case of retirement dismissal at the time an employee has reached the state pension age. We previously wrote an article about this.
PERIOD OF CONTINUED SALARY PAYMENT DURING ILLNESS
Another important measure taken by the government was, for instance, the reduction of the period during which the employer must continue to pay wages to a disabled employee who has reached the state pension age. Normally, employers have to continue paying wages for a maximum period of 104 weeks in case of incapacity for work. This is different for incapacitated employees who have reached the state pension age.
With the entry into force of the Working after the State Pension Age Act, the period during which wages must be continued to be paid to an employee who has reached the state pension age was adjusted to only six weeks. Also, the employer’s reintegration obligation and the ban on termination were limited to the same 6 weeks.
When the Act on Working after the state pension age was introduced, there were some concerns that these short periods would result in employees who had reached the state pension age displacing those who had not yet reached the state pension age from the labour market. Therefore, it was then decided to temporarily set the obligation to continue to pay wages, the ban on giving notice and the duration of the reintegration obligations at 13 weeks. This was included as transitional law.
AS OF 1 JULY 2023: 6 WEEKS
After some time, the Working after the state pension age Act was evaluated, and this evaluation showed that the shortening of the term for the obligation to continue paying wages, the ban on giving notice and the duration of the reintegration obligations did not cause any displacement of employees who have not yet reached the state pension age. As a result, with effect from 1 July 2023, the deadline has been adjusted from 13 weeks to 6 weeks. Thus, an employee who has reached the state pension age will in principle only have to be paid for 6 weeks in case of incapacity for work.
CAUTION
For employees who have reached the state pension age and were already unfit for work before 1 July 2023, the 13-week period still applies. The 6-week period therefore only applies to employees who have reached the state pension age and now become unfit for work.
