The Unemployment Benefits Act (WW)

In case that during your stay in the Netherlands
you become unemployed, applying for an
unemployment benefit may be a life-saver.

The application should take place either online
(UWV WERKberdift) or at your local Job Center.
Note that although both the website and the
application form are in Dutch, UWV WERKberdift
employees will assist expats in many languages, including English.

As a general rule, the received payment (WW
uitkering) in the Netherlands is 75% of your last
earned wage for the first two months and 70%
thereafter. However, the unemployment benefit
is not a welfare benefit; there is a minimum term
of 3 months and a maximum term of 38 months.

As from January 1st 2009, the maximum daily
wage is set to 183,15 euros.

Obligations & requirements

As soon as you receive the WW benefit, you are
obliged to look for a job. Consequently, it is
absolutely essential to show proof of job
applications. The type of proof and frequency of
job applications have to be agreed with the
personal job advisors assigned by UWV.

To be eligible for WW benefit you need to satisfy
the “26 out of 36 weeks” ruling, which states that
you must have been employed for at least 26 out
of the 36 weeks before the first day of
unemployment, as well as to be under 65 years
old and available for work.

› WW weeks requirement: a former employee,
who meets only the required number of weeks,
will receive WW benefit up to a maximum of
three months.

› WW years requirement: A redundant, who has
received wages for at least 52 days for four (out
of the five) last calendar years from the year of
unemployment, is eligible for the unemployment
benefit. In this case the duration of the benefit
depends on the unemployment history. The
benefit will be payable for as many months as
the number of years the person he/she was
employed.