Growing WIA influx even bigger problem for employers

The influx into the Work and Income (Capacity for Work) Act (WIA) has been increasing for years. As expected, the corona pandemic has an influence on this. However, this only refers to the year 2021 when corona spread worldwide. The influx into the WIA also increased in the previous years. One of the important reasons is the increase in the retirement age. In 2019, the retirement age was increased to 66 years and 4 months. This means that more people over the age of 60 are working, the group with the greatest risk of disability, and this is reflected. The development of the WIA inflow is shown below.

– This article is taken from our website FHI Advice partner Clap Insurance Broker (formerly HBR) 

WIA – What was it again?

Is an employee unable to work due to illness or disability? Then you as an employer are legally obliged to continue paying wages for a maximum of two years. After that, the Work and Income (Capacity for Work) Act (WIA) applies. The WIA is the successor to the WAO. Employees who became incapacitated for work on or before January 1, 2004 continue to be covered by the WAO. Employees who become incapacitated or incapacitated for work after this date are covered by the WIA. There are two types of benefits within the WIA: the WGA (Resumption of Work for the Partially Disabled) and the IVA (Income Provision for the Fully Disabled). Only a small proportion of WIA entrants are eligible for an IVA benefit, the vast majority for a WGA benefit.

70% of requests not processed in time due to long queues

WGA inflow is allocated to the (former) employer. As a result, the growing WGA influx has a direct effect on the employer. There are currently long queues for the examination of disabled employees. These long queues (at the end of last year they consisted of more than 12,000 people) are the result of a years-long shortage of insurance doctors at the UWV. As a result, only 30 percent of all requests are processed on time.

Be prepared and protect yourself from the burden of damages

Due to the growing WGA influx and the limited capacity to inspect employees, it is important for employers to gain some control and maintain control. Active guidance for employees who have entered the WGA results in a lower claim burden for employers. How you as an employer should deal with this situation varies per company and per case. Our specialists can inform you about this and assist you during this process. They will review the situation together with you and ensure that the damage burden is limited. Klap also works with FHI Advies partner ArboNed in relieving all matters relating to absenteeism for our FHI members. 

Monitor WGA beneficiaries

Monitoring and guiding WGA beneficiaries and UWV is crucial in this regard. The employer does not have access to the medical data of the (former) employee. A professional legal counselor does. This allows them to properly assess a file for the law, the correctness of the WIA category, the reintegration options of the (former) employee and whether a change in the benefit applies. This means you will save considerably on your Whk (Resumption of Work Fund) premium.

Approach to WGA claims reduction:

• Analyzing files for permanent disability, options for outflow or progression to the IVA, the level of the disability class and preparing reassessments and objections and appeals on this basis;
• Submitting review requests, reassessments and conducting objection and appeal procedures;
• Monitoring processing by UWV and/or Tax Authorities;
• Reporting with results and recommendations.

Would you like to know more about the Whk control and monitoring of WGA beneficiaries? Please contact our contact person Brian Gal from Klap Insurance Broker: bgal@klap.com / 06 – 50886616.