What is a WGA benefit?

The abbreviation WGA stands for Werkhervatting Gedeeltelijk Arbeidsongeschikten (Return to work scheme for partly or temporarily disabled persons). You may be entitled to a WGA benefit if you meet the following two conditions:

• You have been ill for longer than two years, and you may in future be able to work – or work more - once again.
• This work can only provide you with 65% or less of your former wages.

The WGA benefit is a wage-related benefit, which means that it is based on the last salary you earned before you became ill.

Why a compensation scheme?

The duration of the wage-related WGA benefit has been gradually reduced since 2016. However, in the Collective Labour Agreement (CLA) of Dutch Universities, agreements were made to compensate for this. If you are entitled to a wage-related WGA benefit, you may also be entitled to a WGA compensation benefit, on the grounds of the CLA of Dutch Universities and the Sickness and Disability Scheme of the Dutch Universities (ZANU). The conditions for this are as follows:

• The wage-related WGA benefit must have started on or prior to 1 January 2016 and/or
• At the time when you were granted a wage-related WGA benefit, you had worked for more than 10 years.

The WGA compensation benefit enters into force immediately after the wage-related WGA benefit ends.

Note: If you have taken out income protection insurance at Loyalis, any WGA deficit you may incur is already covered. In that case, you are not entitled to a WGA compensation benefit. 

How do you apply for a compensation benefit?

You have to apply for the WGA compensation benefit yourself. You can do so starting from two months before the end of your wage-related WGA benefit. On the Universities of the Netherlands website, you can find the application form and a description of the procedure by benefits administrator Visma Idella.

You should complete the employee section of the application form in writing. The Leiden University Personnel Shared Service Centre (PSSC) then completes the employer section. Scan the completed form, and e-mail it to pssc-servicepunt@assc.leidenuniv.nl. PSSC will send you back the completed employer section. If you have any questions about the completed employer section, or the application, please contact the PSSC Service Point.

Once both sections of the form are completed, you can sign the form, and send it by post, including the required attachments, to Visma Idella. Make sure your application is complete, and send it in good time. Visma Idella will assess your application, and decide whether you are entitled to a WGA compensation benefit. They will also decide on the duration and amount of the benefit.