Can my employer choose not to renew my contract during sick leave?

Questioner

I have been reported sick from work since the beginning of June. I have been in contact with the practice assistant and company doctor and am not yet ready to go back to work. I have been in contact with my employer every week to discuss what is possible for now and the future. Today I also had telephone contact with my employer and he told me that if I continue to be reported sick he cannot extend my contract. My contract expires on September 30. He indicated that if he extends my contract while I am sick, he will no longer be insured and will then have to pay me out of his own pocket (which he cannot afford at the moment due to the financial situation as a result of the corona crisis). He indicated that the other option is to let the contract expire and that I will then be rehired after 4 weeks when he is insured again. I could apply for unemployment benefits until then. I was wondering if it is legal not to extend a contract (27 hours per week) during sick leave? My employer indicated that it is only possible if I am reported 100% better again.

Lawyer

That is -unfortunately for you- not impossible. In principle, the employer is free not to extend a temporary contract, even if you are ill. That is only different if a permanent contract would have been created and/or there were certain demonstrable promises/agreements on the basis of which it would certainly be extended. However, the employer must inform you in writing at least one month before the end of the contract whether it will be extended. If the employer fails to do so, he will owe a kind of fine that you can then claim. You must then have claimed that amount via the court within a certain period after the end of the employment contract (if the employer does not pay voluntarily), otherwise the right to the fine will lapse again. If your employment contract is not extended while you are still ill, you will be entitled to a ZW benefit through the UWV.