What does disability mean for your income?

Good question! If you have not been able to work (fully) for more than 88 weeks due to an accident or illness, UWV will assess how much you are still able to work and earn. If you are 35% or more disabled for work, you may be entitled to a WIA benefit from UWV. The WIA benefit covers part of your loss of income. Shell chooses to supplement this with 3 extra insurances:

  1. ​Disability Additional
    If you become 35% or more disabled for work, the Disability Additional insurance ensures that you receive a supplement to the WIA benefit from UWV.
  2. Disability Gap
    If you become 35% or more disabled and you are not able to earn more than 50% of what UWV believes you can still earn, the Disability Gap insurance provides a supplement to your income.
  3. Disability Top Up
    If you become 35% or more disabled, the Disability Top Up insurance also ensures that higher incomes receive a supplement to the WIA benefit from UWV.

Calculate your income in case of disability yourself.

A WIA benefit from UWV is usually much lower than your wage. How much you receive depends on how much you are still able to work, how much you cán earn, and how much you actually earn. A WIA insurance supplements your income. How much you receive depends on your percentage of disability. This also applies to the benefit from UWV. Would you like to calculate what your income could be in case of disability? Please use our helpful WIA-calculator.

What does the WIA mean for you as an employee?

The Work and Income (Capacity for Work) Act (wet Werk en Inkomen naar Arbeidsvermogen) is a statutory scheme from the government. The WIA is for employees who are not (fully) able to work after 2 years of disability.

UWV assesses how much you are still able to work and earn. If you are 35% or more disabled for work, you may be entitled to a WIA benefit from UWV.

There are 2 types of statutory WIA benefits (from UWV):

  1. WGA benefit.
    You receive a WGA benefit if you are still able to work, but can only earn 65% or less of your old wage. This is called your residual earning capacity. WGA is the Return to Work (Partially or temporarily Disabled Persons) Scheme (Werkhervatting Gedeeltelijk Arbeidsongeschikten).
  2. IVA benefit.
    ​If it is unlikely that you will be able to work again, you will receive an IVA benefit. IVA is the Fully Disabled Persons Income Scheme (Inkomensvoorziening Volledig Arbeidsongeschikten).

Illness shorter than 2 years 

In the first 2 years of absence due to an accident or illness, you will work with your employer and the occupational health and safety service to try to return to work as soon as possible. This is required by law. We have designed a roadmap to help you with that. 

Shell will continue to pay some or all of your wages for the first 2 years if you cooperate in your recovery.

Illness longer than 2 years

If you have not fully returned to work after nearly 2 years, you will undergo an examination by the Employee Insurance Agency (UWV). UWV will determine what you can still do and how much you can earn. This is how UWV determines the percentage of your disability—your disability rating. The WIA provides a (temporary) supplement to your wages. If UWV determines that you have a disability rating of 35% or more, you will receive this from them. For more information about the UWV examination and benefits, visit the UWV website.

If you became ill before 1 January 2004 and have not fully returned to work fully since that time, you receive a WAO benefit ((previous) law for disability insurance, Wet op de arbeidsongeschiktheidsverzekering) from UWV. You are not eligible for additional insurance if you receive a WAO benefit.

Handig om te weten

Man en vrouw kijken met 2 vrolijke kinderen

Waarom is een WIA-verzekering belangrijk?

Raak je (gedeeltelijk) arbeidsongeschikt dan heeft dat vaak grote financiële gevolgen. Kan je nog wel in je huis blijven wonen? Of de studiekosten van de kinderen betalen? Want er is risico op een lager inkomen en soms wel tot bijstandsniveau. 

Meer weten?
Vrouw is met een stapel papierwerk achter haar laptop aan het werken

Langdurig arbeidsongeschikt raken: bent u voorbereid? 

Langdurig arbeidsongeschikt raken. We denken er vaak niet over na, maar het kan iedereen gebeuren. Dat kan grote financiële gevolgen hebben. Want kun je dan bijvoorbeeld nog je huur of hypotheek betalen? Het is dan dus fijn als je alles goed geregeld hebt. Maar wat kun je regelen? En waar moet je op letten?  

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