Sick for a long time and then what?
If you become ill for a long time, a lot will come at you. The voluntary wia counselors of the AOb can assist you legally and emotionally. “Saying goodbye to work is a grieving process.”
Picture: Fred van Diem
Lianne Derks loves her work as an internal supervisor. You can count on one hand the number of times she was absent due to illness in her teaching career. Until the diagnosis of breast cancer in 2017. She has been out of the running for over a year due to chemotherapy, surgery, radiation and rehabilitation. As soon as possible, she carefully gets back to work.
Despite an understanding employer, excellent guidance and the opportunity to reintegrate with an experienced ib'er at another school, the work is quite disappointing. She continues to suffer from fatigue and concentration problems. “I couldn't do too many things at once. As an ib'er I couldn't function as I was used to,” she says. "But I thought: we're going to slowly expand those five hours a week and then I'll get there."
Burn out
Anyone who is not fully able to work after two years of illness will have to deal with the Wia = WGA + iva The Work and Income according to Capacity for Work Act (WIA) consists of two schemes: Resumption of work for the partially disabled (WGA) and Income for the fully disabled (iva). You are eligible for the iva if you are no longer or almost unable to work. For the WGA if you can still work (partly) now or in the future. The WIA consists of two schemes: Resumption of work for partially disabled people (WGA) and Income Provision for fully disabled people (iva). You are eligible for the iva if you are no longer or almost unable to work. For the WGA if you can still work (partly) now or in the future. Law*The WIA consists of two schemes: Resumption of work for partially disabled people (WGA) and Income Provision for fully disabled people (iva). You are eligible for the iva if you are no longer or almost unable to work. For the WGA if you can still work (partly) now or in the future. work and income according to work capacity. Every year, two thousand education employees receive a disability benefit, a number that continues to rise. In total, 17 thousand employees in primary, secondary and secondary vocational education received disability benefits in 2019, more than 6,9 percent of all employees in these sectors. Mental disorders due to severe stress, such as burnout, are the most common diagnosis.
“If you become ill for a long time, a lot will come at you. Filling in forms and talking to doctors and occupational experts often cause extra stress. While when you are ill, you have your claws full of getting well," says Geertje Broekstra, wia supervisor at the AOb† She was one of the founders of the Platform entitled to Benefits, which protects the interests of AOb-represents members in a benefit situation.
You can feel very lonely in this process
Every year, about fifteen WIA counselors assist hundreds of people who become incapacitated for work as volunteers. These trained experts by experience provide information about procedures, attend interviews with medical examiners and provide emotional support.
'I thought: I'll be back in front of the class anyway.' Watch this video with a teacher who fell ill for a long time and a disability supervisor from the AOb who helped her:
“You can feel very lonely in this process. Colleagues and the environment can respond with such understanding, but the only person who really knows how you feel is you yourself,” says Broekstra, who became completely incapacitated for work at the age of 33 due to pelvic instability. “During the disease process you are constantly confronted with what you can no longer do and that is precisely something you do not want to accept.”
Dismissal
Lianne Derks can confirm that. Wia supervisor Félice Hylkema accompanied her to the UWV, where she was told that she would be declared 80 to 100 percent incapacitated for work. “The employment expert also said that the employer has the right to fire me. I was very shocked by that. That there is someone who has gone through the same process is very nice. "Just be happy with it," Félice said, but that didn't work for me."
I was fired and then it went quiet
Although the director was willing to look at what else Derks could do, the board immediately shut the door. “Like you, there are 25 at home and we can't come up with something alternatives for everyone, was the answer,” she says. “If you've given a lot to the organization for ten years and asked for little, then that really hits you. So I got fired and then it went quiet. All support and guidance was lost. Logical of course, but I did experience it as a lonely quest.”
“Saying goodbye to your work is a grieving process”, Wia counselor Hylkema knows from personal experience. She was working as a pre-vocational secondary education teacher when she received the same diagnosis as Derks when she was fifty. She returned to her employer, who put her back in front of the class.
“I had never known order problems, but suddenly they started to bother me. If you as a teacher are not 200 percent fit in front of the class, students will feel it immediately. The fact that I subsequently received no support to turn the tide was a major disappointment. It took me a few years before I could accept that I could no longer do my job as a teacher.”
Lianne Derks: "My dog came when I was rejected. That was a golden move, because besides fun, he also provides a daily rhythm." Image: Fred van Diem
If you become partially incapacitated for work, the employer must do its best to find work that suits your abilities. In practice, this is sometimes disappointing, which can lead to conflicts. Herman Weima has experienced that legal and emotional support is very welcome. Due to serious heart complaints and a subsequent neurological disorder, the MBO teacher was forced to sit at home in 2016. “The pain is constant and sometimes very severe, which means I don't sleep well. That is crippling for energy and concentration. Relating to people for a long time is very tiring.”
Goodbye
Working became difficult, teaching was no longer an option. Although the employer was understanding at first, the conversations became more irritable over time. Weima contacted the legal department of the AOb and also received wia guidance. “There is so much that comes at you and you often don't really know what you want,” he says.
“All decisions are quite touching in the sense that you have to say goodbye to something: your health, your work, your old way of life, your colleagues. The scale should always turn to health, but that is not always easy. The fact that you can fall back on expert guidance and learn that you don't have to make a decision right away is very nice.”
Such a session is quite exciting and I was glad that I was not alone
The UWV rejects the first WIA application, because the employer would have done too little to have him reintegrated. The employer lodged an objection, a hearing followed, but the UWV maintained its position.
“A session like this is quite exciting and I was glad I wasn't alone. According to my WIA supervisor, it was an advantage that I get a one-year extension, because now the pension accrual continues. That's not how I saw it. I wanted to be rejected, because then I would be rid of all those conversations at work.”
coulant
Weima again found himself in a field of tension about the extent to which he could still perform work. Now he says he is happy that he persevered. “It was nice to be able to be of significance. For example, I did internship supervision and checked exams. When the UWV rejected me for 74,4 percent a year later, I was only four months away from retirement. My employer then took a lenient attitude and gave me a nice farewell. So I can look back on it with a good feeling.”
Many people are overly optimistic about their own possibilities
After two years of disability benefits, an assessment is made to determine to what extent someone is still incapacitated for work. “A pitfall is that people then give an over-optimistic picture of their own possibilities,” says WIA supervisor Broekstra. “It is important that the image is correct, so that you are not over questioned. Especially now that the WIA figures are rising, there is a chance that doctors will interpret the rules more sharply.”
Confronting
Lianne Derks is happy that she has remained a member of the association and that her wia supervisor was able to support her again during the re-examination. "I felt like I had already described my worst day, but Félice made me realize that even that was still too rosy."
The fact that the doctor awarded her an IVA benefit felt double to Derks. “It's a relief because you don't have to worry about your income, but it's also very confronting that this is the result of years of struggling. Only when you no longer work do you notice how much appreciation and satisfaction you get from it.”
Sick for a long time and then what?
In the first year that you are ill, you are entitled to a 100 percent salary and in the second year of illness to 70 percent for hours not worked (a different arrangement applies to university employees). Your employer should look together with you at possibilities for reintegration. At the end of the second year, the application for the WIA and the examination at the UWV follows. “As soon as your absence seems to be going on for a long time or if the reintegration is not going well, please contact the AOb”, advises union consultant Bernadette Bodewes. “We can map out the situation together, provide you with information about rights and obligations and think along about which steps are necessary. For example, many people do not know that you can request a second opinion from another company doctor.”
Are you sick for a long time yourself? The AOb holds wia consultations in every region. Go to the agenda and search for 'wia' in the search bar and you will see all office hours. Or look first here for more information and a video about how the union can help.
Do you want to dedicate yourself to colleagues who are ill for a long time? The Workgroup WIA supervisors welcomes you! Look here for more information and registration.
