Submitting a dismissal request because of an occupational disability

To submit a dismissal request, complete the Dismissal request form due to an occupational disability (‘Aanvragen ontslagvergunning bij langdurige arbeidsongeschiktheid’). You will need to log in to the employer portal with your EH3 level eHerkenning account to do this.

Make sure you have your employee’s personal and contact information close to hand when filling out the form.

• a recent statement of fitness for work (‘verklaring bedrijfsarts’)
• a copy of the employment contract
• a detailed job description outlining your employee’s work duties over the past year
• a document proving the dismissal ban has been lifted, or will be lifted within 4 weeks of our decision on your dismissal request
• a copy of either the decision on your employee’s WIA application or the evaluation of the return-to-work report (‘RIV-toets’)
• an explanation clarifying why a suitable alternative role could not be offered to your employee
• a list of current and future job openings in your company
• an overview of the positions within your company that are filled by freelancers, agency staff, temporary workers or casual employees

One of the documents you will be required to submit along with the form is the statement of fitness for work by the occupational health physician (‘bedrijfsarts’). It is very important that this statement meets the following criteria:

• It must have been issued within the last 3 months. 
• It must describe the employee’s capacity for work and their ability to return to work.
• It must provide a prognosis on whether the employee is expected to recover sufficiently to return to work within the next 26 weeks. (These 26 weeks will start as soon as we make a decision on your dismissal request.)
• It must provide a prognosis on whether the employee can return to work on modified duties within the next 26 weeks. (These 26 weeks will start as soon as we make a decision on your dismissal request.)

Please note: You will not have to submit a statement of fitness for work if your employee is entitled to an IVA benefit. 

After we receive your dismissal request, we will review it to make sure all the necessary paperwork has been included. If any items are missing, you will be given 8 days to submit them. Once all the required documents have been received, we will forward them to your employee who will then have 2 weeks to respond.

We will usually need at least 4 weeks to evaluate your request and make a decision. This could take longer if 1 of the following situations occurs:

• We need to seek the opinion of an UWV physician or an occupational disability employment counsellor (‘arbeidsdeskundige’) because the statement of fitness for work was not clear enough.
• Your employee decides to challenge the dismissal. If this happens, you and your employee may both be given the opportunity to present your positions to us in writing.