Pension and occupational disability: how does it work?

Falling ill

Occupational disability is a difficult situation,  especially if it is long-term. During the first year of illness, NWO-I continues to pay your full salary, although any (net) allowances may cease.  

In the second twelve-month period, calculated from your first day of illness, you will receive seventye percent of your salary. If you carry out work as part of a reintegration programme, you will receive your full salary for the hours worked, provided the work constitutes an actual job performance. In other words, you are carrying out actual tasks. If you work more than fifity percent of your contracted hours during the second year of illness, you will receive 85 percent of your salary for the remaining sick leave hours. 
 
After two years (104 weeks), the Employee Insurance Agency (UWV) will assess whether you are occupationally disabled and whether you are eligible for a WIA benefit.  

What is the WIA? 

The WIA benefit (Work and Income (Capacity for Work) Act) is intended for people who are partially or fully occupationally disabled, either temporarily or permanently. The Dutch government sets the eligibility requirements for this benefit, and the UWV assesses whether an individual meets them. The WIA benefit is a collective term for: 

• WGA (Return to Work (Partially Disabled Persons) Regulations): intended for people who can still work to some extent and are assessed as being between 35 and 80 percent occupationally disabled.  It also applies to those who are currently at least 80 percent occupationally disabled but may be able to work again in the future. 

• IVA (Fully Disabled Persons Income Scheme): for people who are fully and permanently occupationally disabled. This means they are expected to earn no more than 20% of their previous salary in the future. If their situation or health does not improve, they will receive the IVA benefit until they reach the state pension age. The IVA benefit is higher than the WGA benefit. 

If you receive a WIA benefit, your income may drop significantly. You can take out insurance against this risk, for example through the collective occupational disability insurance offered by NWO-I. More information is available on the NWO-I website. 

Occupational disability pension

Once you receive a WIA benefit, you are entitled to an occupational disability pension and non-contributory accrual of your retirement pension. The occupational disability pension is a monthly supplement to your WIA benefit. You receive it for as long as you receive a WIA benefit, have not yet reached the state pension age, or until you return to work (partially or fully).  

Non-contributory pension accrual means that you continue to accrue retirement pension (on the portion of your working hours for which you are occupationally disabled) without having to pay pension contributions. The accrual rate is lower than it would be if you were not occupationally disabled. It is important to note that the occupational disability pension is a separate benefit and is not deducted from your retirement pension (or partner' pension).  

ABP, the pension fund through which NWO-I employees accrue their pension, pays out this occupational disability pension. Once you reach retirement age, the occupational disability pension stops and your retirement pension begins.  

Be sure to consult the ABP website to find out which steps you need to take to qualify for an occupational disability pension, and do the eligibility check (Dutch only).  

If you are of eligible age, you may also choose to apply for early retirement pension instead of an occupational disability pension. If you wish to do so, please contact ABP. 

When you receive a WIA benefit, your income can be significantly reduced. You can insure yourself against this, for example via the collective disability insurance of NWO-I. You can find more information about this on the website of NWO-I.

Retirement pension during occupational disability 

If you have a permanent employment contract at the time you fall ill - or a temporary contract with more than two years remaining - you do not need to worry about your retirement pension during the first two years. You will remain employed by NWO-I and continue to accrue pension rights. However, if your temporary contract ends during the two-year period of illness, your salary payments and pension accrual with ABP will end. 

If you are entitled to an occupational disability pension and have applied for it, you may also qualify for non-contributory accrual of your retirement pension. This is conditional on you having been dismissed or reassigned to a new or existing position.  

For the portion of your employment for which you are occupationally disabled, pension accrual continues based on your pensionable income prior to your illness. You no longer need to pay contributions for this part. 

The table below gives an overview of the extent of continued pension accrual.

Degree of occupational disability	Extent of continued pension accrual
80% or more	50%
65% to 80%	40%
55% to 65%	30%
45% to 55%	25%
35% to 45%	20%

More information 

Please note that the information in these Inside NWO-I newsletters is general and informative in nature. No rights may be derived from these newsletters. For up-to-date information and advice, see www.abp.nl and MijnABP, where you can view your personal data after logging in. 

 
In September's Inside NWO-I, we will delve deeper into death and retirement.  

 Text: Anita van Stel

Newsletter Inside NWO-I, May 2025
You can find the archive of the newsletter Inside NWO-I on the NWO-I website.