The Wet Verbetering Poortwachter (WVP), in force since 2002, obliges employers and employees to take active, documented steps toward reintegration from day one of sickness absence. The law schedules fixed milestones: first-day sick report, problem analysis by the bedrijfsarts in week six, plan of action in week eight, six-weekly evaluations, first-year evaluation around week 52, and a second-track assessment when internal return is unlikely.
Both parties must build a reintegratiedossier covering medical advice, agreed actions, and progress. After 104 weeks of illness, the employee can apply for WIA benefit. UWV reviews the dossier; if it finds the employer made insufficient reintegration efforts, it imposes a loonsanctie that extends wage payment by up to 52 weeks.
The WVP therefore sits at the centre of Dutch absence management, linking the arbodienst, the arbeidsdeskundige, and the employer in a tightly timed reintegration process.