Your employer stops your salary during sick leave. Or threatens to. But is this actually allowed? A salary stop is subject to strict legal conditions. Here you learn when it is permitted, when it is not, and what you can do.
You are ill and your employer threatens a salary stop. Or it has already happened: your salary has actually been stopped. The question on your mind: is this justified? And if it is not — what can you do about it?
A salary stop is the most severe financial measure your employer can take during illness. Unlike salary suspension, your right to salary lapses permanently for the relevant period. That money does not come back, even if you cooperate later.
Precisely for this reason, a salary stop is subject to strict legal conditions. The employer cannot simply impose one. There must be a specific legal ground, the procedure must be correct, and the measure must be proportionate.
In practice, salary stops are regularly imposed unjustly. Knowledge of the legal framework gives you the position to assess whether the salary stop will hold. This relates to the broader situation of salary being stopped.
The most common reason: your employer feels you are not (sufficiently) cooperating with reintegration. But "not recovering fast enough" is not a refusal ground. There must be culpable behaviour — you must actively refuse or obstruct.
The employer offers work they consider suitable and you refuse. But suitable work must align with the company doctor's assessment of your work capacity. Work the company doctor does not consider suitable, you do not need to accept.
Employers mix up salary stop and salary suspension. A salary stop (art. 7:629 para. 3) concerns reintegration obligations. A salary suspension (para. 6) concerns monitoring requirements. Applying the wrong measure can undermine the entire sanction.
If the company doctor considers you fit for certain work and your employer offers that work, you must in principle perform it. If you refuse without good reason, your employer may stop your salary. But: the work must genuinely be suitable — adjusted to your limitations, not too demanding, and actually available.
You are obligated to cooperate with your reintegration: follow the action plan, attend evaluations, discuss reasonable proposals. Active refusal or structural inaction can justify a salary stop. But disagreement about the approach is not refusal.
If you demonstrably impede your recovery — for example by structurally ignoring medical advice — this can be grounds. This must be medically substantiated. "Your employer thinks you should do more" is not medical substantiation.
If you intentionally caused your illness, your employer can stop your salary. In practice, this virtually never occurs. Reckless behaviour (such as a sports injury) does not fall under this — only intent directed at the illness itself.
Your employer must warn you in writing beforehand: what specific behaviour is considered a shortcoming, what measure will follow, and what you can do to prevent it. A warning after the fact is insufficient.
The employer must be specific. "You are not cooperating" is too vague. It must be concrete: "You refuse the offered work of 4 hours per day in the administration department, which the company doctor considers suitable."
The salary stop must align with the company doctor's advice. If the company doctor does not consider you fit for the offered work, the employer cannot impose a salary stop for refusing that work.
The employer must give you a reasonable timeframe to correct your behaviour before the salary stop takes effect. Immediately stopping salary after the first observation is disproportionate.
Salary stop (art. 7:629 para. 3) is for reintegration obligations. Salary suspension (para. 6) is for monitoring requirements. The employer must apply the correct measure on the correct grounds.
The measure must be proportionate to the shortcoming. A complete salary stop while you are partially cooperating can be disproportionate. Courts always test for reasonableness and fairness.
"The company doctor says I can do adapted work. My employer offers work I find too demanding. My salary has been stopped because I refuse."
The company doctor determines, not your employer and not you. If you doubt whether the work is suitable, request a UWV expert opinion. In the meantime, cooperate as much as possible — complete refusal weakens your position.
"My employer has stopped my salary because I am not working. But no suitable work has been offered to me. There is literally nothing."
You cannot refuse work that has not been offered. If the employer does not offer concrete, suitable work, the ground for a salary stop due to refusal is absent. Confirm in writing that you are willing to perform suitable work as soon as it is available.
"I work two days per week on the company doctor's advice. My employer wants four days and has stopped my entire salary."
A complete salary stop while you partially cooperate is disproportionate. You are following the company doctor's advice. The employer may at most dispute salary for the additional hours, not stop your entire salary. This is a strong case for a salary claim.
"From one day to the next my salary was stopped. I never received a warning letter."
Without a prior written warning, the employer's position is weak. Case law consistently requires a warning beforehand. This is your strongest argument to challenge the salary stop. Request the grounds and warning in writing — the absence is your evidence.
A salary stop is severe. Your income disappears, stress increases, and you wonder whether you can challenge this. The answer: often yes. Employers regularly make errors in the grounds, procedure or proportionality.
MediRights tests the salary stop against all legal requirements. We assess whether the grounds are correct, whether the procedure was followed, whether the company doctor's advice was considered, and whether the measure is proportionate.
If the salary stop is unjust, we help you recover your salary with the statutory increase. If the salary stop is justified, we advise how to remedy the situation and restore salary payment.
Have the salary stop tested against all legal requirements. If unjust, you can recover your salary with the statutory increase of up to 50%.
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