What is a wage freeze?
A wage suspension is a sanction that an employer may impose on an employee if the employee fails to fulfill his or her reintegration obligations (Art. 7:629(3) of the Dutch Civil Code). Examples include situations in which an employee (repeatedly) fails to show up for appointments with the company physician, refuses to cooperate in the assessment of his or her fitness or unfitness for work, or, for example, refuses to follow the company physician’s advice during reintegration. A prerequisite for this, however, is that the refusal must be “without valid grounds.” At the same time, the employee must—even if there is an alleged valid reason for refusal—comply with the company physician’s recommendation for a second opinion or an expert opinion from the UWV, unless the UWV issues a contrary recommendation. The advice of the first company physician is decisive, so the employee must still comply with the reintegration obligations until (also) the first company physician revises the original advice. Just as with a suspension of wages, a wage freeze may not be imposed without prior official warning.