What the Bedrijfsarts Can and Cannot Do
A surprising amount of sick-leave conflict in the Netherlands starts with a single misunderstanding: what the bedrijfsarts, the company doctor, is actually allowed to tell the employer. The role is widely misread on both sides, which turns an ordinary absence into a standoff. This piece sets out plainly what the bedrijfsarts can do, what they cannot, and how an employer can plan a return around that line rather than against it.
An independent specialist, not the employer's doctor
The bedrijfsarts is a registered medical specialist in work and health, and the title is legally protected. Although the employer pays for the service, the bedrijfsarts advises independently, in the interest of the employee's health. That independence is the point of the role, and it is also the source of much of the friction, because it means the doctor does not simply report to whoever is paying.
What the bedrijfsarts can do
They assess whether, and to what extent, an employee is able to work, and they are the only party who can. An employer cannot and may not make that judgement. They advise on adjustments to the work, estimate the likely duration of the absence, and guide the reintegration.
What the bedrijfsarts cannot do
They cannot share the diagnosis or other private medical information with the employer. Under Dutch privacy rules, that stays between the employee and the doctor unless the employee explicitly agrees to share it. The employer is entitled to know what the person can and cannot do, and roughly for how long, but not why. This is precisely the boundary most employers do not expect, and most disputes grow in the gap it leaves.
Where the conflict comes from
Almost every dispute I see forms in that gap. An employer expects a diagnosis, does not get one, and fills the silence with assumptions. Or treats the bedrijfsarts as an adversary rather than an independent adviser. The information that would settle the question simply is not theirs to have, and acting as though it should be only hardens the standoff and slows the return.
Planning around the line
Knowing the boundary in advance changes how a return is planned. Instead of waiting for a diagnosis that will never come, an employer can work with what they are entitled to: the functional advice, the expected timeline, the recommended adjustments. Sick-leave and reintegration support can help translate that advice into a workable plan, without stepping into territory that belongs to the bedrijfsarts.
Working with the role, not against it
The bedrijfsarts is not an obstacle and not the employer's instrument. It is an independent medical role with a defined scope. Employers who understand that scope spend less time fighting it and more time on the one thing that actually shortens an absence: planning a realistic, well-supported return.
Kelly Kim is an NIP-registered psychologist and workplace mental health specialist supporting international and Korean organisations in the Netherlands. About Kelly.
Sources: Arboportaal (Ministry of Social Affairs and Employment) on the role and independence of the bedrijfsarts, and the Dutch Data Protection Authority on the medical information a company doctor may and may not share with an employer.
