When an employee calls in sick, the impact is immediate. Work shifts. Overtime rises. Planning becomes guesswork. For a small business, one long-term illness can quietly strain cash flow, disrupt client commitments and increase administrative pressure around reintegration. That is why clarity and trust matter so much during sick leave.

In January, the Amsterdam District Court ruled on a case that many small employers will recognize in essence. An employee reported sick after a workplace accident and was declared fully unfit for work by the company doctor. Months later, the employer learned that he had carried out short assignments elsewhere and, during his sick leave, had been seen driving and moving without visible limitation. After requesting an explanation and receiving none that addressed the observations, the employer dismissed him with immediate effect. The court upheld that dismissal, despite the fact that the employee was still medically classified as fully incapacitated .

The legal nuance is important. The court did not say that a sick employee can never drive a car or perform any activity. Nor did it replace the judgment of the company doctor. What weighed heavily was something more basic: the obligation of an employee to communicate openly and truthfully about their capacity. The court emphasized that an employer must be able to rely on honest communication about “belastbaarheid”  the practical limits of what someone can and cannot do . In this case, the employee’s statements about being unable to receive a home visit or drive were difficult to reconcile with the observed activities, and no convincing explanation followed.

For micro and small business owners, the takeaway is less about surveillance and more about structure. Illness management is not only medical; it is contractual. The “plan van aanpak”  the reintegration plan required under Dutch law, is not paperwork for the drawer. It is your shared framework. If an employee says certain activities are impossible, document it. If doubts arise, ask for clarification promptly and in writing. And if external work during sick leave is allowed or restricted, make that explicit in contracts and internal policies before a conflict appears.

At the same time, the ruling contains a second message. Although the dismissal stood, the court still awarded a statutory transition payment (“transitievergoeding”) of over €12,000, given the circumstances and length of service . Even when trust breaks down, costs do not disappear. For small employers, that means risk does not end with a justified dismissal. Financial exposure remains part of the equation.

The broader lesson is calm but firm. You cannot control illness, and you should not play doctor. But you can insist on transparency, consistent documentation and timely dialogue. Most sick leave cases are resolved through patience and structure. The rare case that escalates usually turns on communication, not diagnosis. Keep your files clean, your expectations clear and your tone professional. In a small business, trust is not a soft value, it is operational capital.

COURT RULING 08-01-2026 ECLI:NL:RBAMS:2026:95