Did you know the cost of work-related sickness absence for employers in the Netherlands rose from €5.1 billion in 2015 to no less than €8.3 billion in 2023? With the changes to the Working Conditions Act (Arbowet) taking effect on 1 July 2026, adapting how you run your organisation becomes even more important. The law places a clear duty of care on employers to provide a safe and healthy working environment.
For employers that means managing working-conditions policy carefully and paying attention to matters such as psychosocial workload, work pressure and unwanted behaviour. The Act also imposes obligations on consulting employees and, for larger organisations, on drawing up a code of conduct. On top of that, enforcement by the Netherlands Labour Authority carries more weight, which can lead to warnings and fines. Do you know what this means in practice for your organisation, and how to translate this legislation into policy that contributes to less sickness absence and better employability?
In this article we set out what the Working Conditions Act asks of you in 2026, so that you can anticipate these important changes as an employer.
What the Act means in legal terms
The Working Conditions Act is the basis of the Dutch rules for healthy and safe work. According to Arboportaal on the Act (in Dutch), it is framework legislation: the Act gives the main lines, while the Working Conditions Decree and the Working Conditions Regulation fill in the detail. For you as an employer that means not only ticking off separate obligations but above all pursuing active policy to prevent or limit risks.
That duty of care applies broadly. It covers not only physical safety, such as machines, noise or hazardous substances, but psychosocial workload as well: work pressure, bullying, aggression, discrimination and intimidation. The Netherlands Labour Authority on work pressure and unwanted behaviour (in Dutch) makes clear that employers have to draw up policy on this and carry it out.
For employees the Act means a right to a safe and healthy working environment, to information and to access to expert support, including the occupational physician. For the physician it means a role not only in absence guidance but in prevention, in access to a clinic and in advising on working conditions. Who is responsible for which step within your organisation often only becomes clear when you lay your processes alongside the legal framework. Themes such as your obligations as an employer on working conditions and absence help connect law and practice.
Which duties go with it?
Working-conditions policy and the risk inventory
One of the fixed parts of the Act is pursuing working-conditions policy. According to Arboportaal on the risk inventory obligation (in Dutch), every employer has to draw up a risk inventory and evaluation (RI&E) that fits their own work situation. In it you map risks systematically, including an action plan with measures, deadlines and responsibilities.
In 2026 that is not only a formal duty but a practical necessity. In the Working Conditions Balance 2024 (in Dutch), TNO shows that the cost of work-related absence for employers has risen sharply, from €5.1 billion in 2015 to €8.3 billion in 2023. A large part of that relates to psychosocial workload. A current risk inventory therefore helps you not only to meet the law but to limit absence, drop-out and costs sooner.
The prevention officer
You also have to appoint a prevention officer. This employee supports the working-conditions policy, contributes to the risk inventory and forms a link between employer, employees and working-conditions experts. In small organisations of up to 25 employees you may fill this role yourself. At the same time, the Dutch government's Working Conditions Vision 2040 (in Dutch) points out that more attention is going to the expertise of prevention officers. That makes it wise to look now at whether the knowledge and the mandate within your organisation are enough.
A basic contract with an occupational health service or physician
Another fixed obligation is the basic contract. According to Ondernemersplein on the basic contract with an occupational health service or physician (in Dutch), every employer has to have an agreement with a service or physician. It has to arrange, among other things, access to the occupational physician, absence guidance, support with the risk inventory, a preventive clinic and the possibility of a second opinion.
In practice we see this contract often only getting attention once absence is already in play. It is smarter to test in advance whether your arrangement matches your organisation. Certainly if you want to know what a basic occupational health contract is and what it must contain, it is wise to look not only at the minimum requirements but at availability, the division of roles and preventive use.
What changes on 1 July 2026?
More formal consultation of employees
On 1 July 2026, article 12 of the Act changes. Under the described amendment, "cooperating" is replaced by "consulting". Linguistically that looks small, but legally and practically the difference is large. Employers have to involve employees, or the works council or staff representation where there is one, actively in working-conditions policy. That means sharing information, gathering responses and engaging seriously with proposals.
For you as an employer that means working-conditions policy becomes less an internal management document and more a process of demonstrable alignment. If you have a works council or staff representation, you have to consult it. If you do not, you have to talk directly with the employees concerned. It matters for employees too: their input on safety, work pressure and health gets a clearer place in the law.
A compulsory code of conduct on unwanted behaviour
A second important change is the intended obligation for employers with ten or more employees to have a written code of conduct against unwanted behaviour from 1 July 2026. Under the described amendment it has to contain, among other things, definitions, examples, reporting procedures, sanctions and a point of contact.
That connects directly to the existing obligation to pursue policy against psychosocial workload. The Netherlands Labour Authority on psychosocial workload policy (in Dutch) emphasises that work pressure and unwanted behaviour have to be part of your working-conditions policy and your risk inventory. The new code of conduct makes this more concrete and easier to enforce.
For employees it offers more clarity about norms, reporting routes and support. For the occupational physician it is relevant because psychosocial complaints often become visible in the clinic and during absence guidance. A code of conduct works best when it does not stand apart from practice but is linked to prevention, to how managers behave, to confidential advisers and to following up on reports.
Psychosocial workload carries more weight
Anyone looking at current figures can see why this subject gets so much attention in 2026. According to TNO, 19 per cent of employees had burnout complaints in 2023, against 13 per cent in 2015. Psychological complaints also lead on average to long absence: around 63 working days. On top of that, 75 per cent of employees say these complaints are partly caused by work.
For you as an employer that means policy on psychosocial workload cannot stay stuck in general wording. You have to be able to show which risks you identified, which causes are in play and which measures you are taking. Think of work-pressure measurements, clear norms for speaking up, training for managers, a reporting procedure and periodic review.
For employees it means signals about work pressure or unwanted behaviour must not only be taken seriously once someone drops out. For the occupational physician there is an advisory role here: interpreting patterns, making capacity discussable and advising on preventive measures. To understand that role well, it helps to know what an occupational physician actually does and how it differs from the role of HR or managers.
Absence and reintegration in practice
The Working Conditions Act does not stand apart from absence and reintegration. As soon as an employee drops out, other legal frameworks such as the Gatekeeper Improvement Act touch your responsibilities directly. UWV's step-by-step guide to the Gatekeeper Improvement Act (in Dutch) shows how tight the deadlines are: a problem analysis in week 6, an action plan in week 8, a notification to UWV in week 42 and further review moments in the second year of illness.
For employers that matters because insufficient effort can lead to a wage sanction. For employees it matters because reintegration calls for timely discussion, clarity about capacity and fitting working arrangements. For the occupational physician this is a core task, in which medical privacy always has to be protected. As Ondernemersplein explains about the physician's role and privacy (in Dutch), medical data may not be shared with you, but advice on employability and adjustments to the work may.
In daily practice it helps when working conditions and absence are not treated as separate files. Good prevention, suitable support and timely use of experts reinforce each other. You see that too in the process of reintegration after long-term absence, where legislation, guidance and practical feasibility come together.
Enforcement: what are the risks?
The Netherlands Labour Authority can enforce when working rules are broken. According to its information on sanctions and enforcement instruments (in Dutch), that can be through warnings, fines or even shutting work down. The level of fines depends on the seriousness of the breach and the size of the organisation. A further increase and annual indexation have been announced for 2026.
What matters most is that enforcement becomes more concrete on some parts. That applies, for instance, to the renewed article 12 on consultation and to the code of conduct on unwanted behaviour. Where certain obligations were previously less sharply enforceable, the chance grows that in 2026 the inspectorate does test the design, the execution and the documentation.
Which is why it is wise to have not only policy on paper but evidence of execution. Think of a current risk inventory, records of consultation with the works council or employees, a working basic contract, information for employees and visible follow-up of psychosocial signals. From our practice we see that organisations that organise this well are usually not only better prepared for an inspection but also get a grip sooner on absence, employability and the lasting deployment of their people.
Healthy work starts today: that way you keep a grip on absence and build an employable workforce.
With current, widely supported working-conditions policy you lay a firm basis for safe, healthy and lasting work. By planning early and working together with employees, you prevent the changes to the Act catching you out.
Key takeaways
- Make sure that by 2026 you have a current risk inventory, a concrete action plan and clearly assigned responsibilities for working conditions, psychosocial workload and absence.
- Record before 1 July 2026 how you structurally consult employees, the works council or staff representation about working-conditions policy, and document that alignment.
- With ten or more employees, draw up a clear, written code of conduct against unwanted behaviour and make arrangements about supervision and follow-up.
- Review your basic contract with the occupational health service or physician so that it is set up not only for absence guidance but explicitly for prevention and early spotting.
- Connect working conditions, psychosocial policy and reintegration into one coherent approach, so that you steer better on absence figures, costs and sustainable employability.
- Involve managers actively in carrying out the policy, so that policy, daily practice and spotting risks fit together well.
If you invest time now in clear policy, good arrangements and cooperation with employees, you build step by step towards an organisation in which healthy and safe work is the norm. We are glad to help with that, so that you are working today on less absence, more employability and future-proof work.