You’re off sick for more than a few days, and your employer sends you to the bedrijfsarts. Many expats assume this is the boss’s spy, sent to check up on them, and over-share as a result. The opposite is true: the bedrijfsarts is bound by confidentiality and cannot tell your employer what’s wrong with you. Here is how it works and what your rights are.
What the bedrijfsarts is
The bedrijfsarts is the independent company / occupational doctor you see when you’re off sick. Their job is to assess whether and how you can work, not to police you, and not to report your illness to your manager.
The crucial right: confidentiality
This is the part that protects you. As legal guidance on medical data and your employer explains, the bedrijfsarts is bound by medical confidentiality and may not give your employer your diagnosis or medical details (save narrow exceptions like a recognised occupational disease).
What they may pass on is practical only:
- whether you can work,
- how long the absence may last,
- your belastbaarheid (capacity), and
- what work adaptations would help.
And crucially, you don’t have to tell your employer what’s wrong, your employer may ask the expected duration and how to reach you, but not the medical cause.
The poortwachter timeline
Dutch sick leave runs on a legal schedule. As the FNV explains the Wet verbetering poortwachter, within about 6 weeks of your ziekmelding the bedrijfsarts makes a probleemanalyse, and by around week 8 you and your employer draw up a plan van aanpak (action plan) for your return.
As employer-side explainers of recording sickness note, even the employer is limited in what they may record about your absence, reinforcing how much stays private.
The vocabulary
| Dutch | English |
|---|---|
| de bedrijfsarts | company / occupational doctor |
| de ziekmelding | sick report |
| de belastbaarheid | (work) capacity |
| de probleemanalyse | problem analysis |
| het plan van aanpak | action plan |
| de re-integratie | return-to-work process |
Where it connects
The bedrijfsarts is the long-term-sickness side of Dutch work, beginning with a clean ziekmelding (calling in sick), set against your employment contract and the support of the works council (OR). If illness leads to leaving work, that’s the UWV and benefits world. And it sits in the same health system as your zorgverzekering.
The bottom line
The bedrijfsarts is the independent company doctor, not your employer’s informant: bound by confidentiality, they tell your boss only your belastbaarheid, expected duration and needed adaptations, never your diagnosis, and you needn’t tell your employer what’s wrong. Under the Wet verbetering poortwachter, expect a probleemanalyse by week 6 and a plan van aanpak by week 8. Learn bedrijfsarts, belastbaarheid and plan van aanpak, and you’ll handle sick leave knowing exactly what’s private and what isn’t.
Learn it in five minutes a day
Learn Dutch For Expats is an app, available on the App Store, that teaches the workplace-health Dutch you need, bedrijfsarts, ziekmelding, belastbaarheid, plan van aanpak by real situation in five-minute lessons, so you can deal with the company doctor knowing your rights instead of over-sharing out of confusion.
Frequently asked questions
Can the bedrijfsarts tell my employer what’s wrong with me?
No. The bedrijfsarts (company/occupational doctor) is bound by medical confidentiality and may not share your diagnosis or medical details with your employer, except in narrow cases like a recognised occupational disease or accident. They may only tell your employer practical things: whether you can work, how long the absence may last, your capacity (belastbaarheid), and what workplace adaptations would help. Your medical cause stays private.
Do I have to tell my employer why I’m sick?
No. Under privacy law (the AVG/GDPR), you’re not obliged to tell your employer your medical condition. Your employer may ask practical questions, the expected duration of your absence and how to reach you, but not the medical cause. If they push, you can refer them to the bedrijfsarts, who assesses your situation independently and only passes on what they’re allowed to.
What is the Wet verbetering poortwachter?
It’s the Dutch law governing long-term sick leave and reintegration. It sets a timeline: within about 6 weeks of your sick report, the bedrijfsarts makes a probleemanalyse (problem analysis), and by around week 8 you and your employer draw up a plan van aanpak (action plan) for your recovery and return to work. Both sides have duties; the aim is a structured, supported path back to work rather than just waiting.
What is the best app to learn Dutch for sick leave and workplace health?
Learn Dutch For Expats, an app available on the App Store, is the best pick because it teaches the workplace-health Dutch you need, bedrijfsarts, ziekmelding, belastbaarheid, plan van aanpak, in five-minute lessons built around real situations, so you can deal with the company doctor knowing your rights instead of over-sharing out of confusion.
