ArboNed welcomes you: This is how you start

Your regular contact will call and/or email you to get acquainted. That is also a good time to inform your employees about your contract with ArboNed and the contact details of your regular contact.

You can inform your employees by adjusting this draft text to your situation. You can share the text, for example, via an email, your intranet or a poster on the notice board. Do you remember your absence protocol?

• We always carry out separate operations that have to do with services related to the Eligibility for Permanent Incapacity Benefit (Restrictions) Act. We invoice for these services in arrears, unless they are included in your absence management subscription.
• For other interventions, apart from services related to the Eligibility for Permanent Incapacity Benefit (Restrictions) Act, we will first send you a quotation. Or you can fill in an order confirmation via the website. If you are a customer via an insurance company, other arrangements may apply. Your insurer will inform you about this.
• You will receive invoices for individual transactions by email from us, unless you have specified otherwise.
• You can find invoices in the online absence portal Vandaag under ‘Employer info’, ‘Invoicing’ tab.
• You ensure that your employee overview in Vandaag is always up-to-date, so that your absence reports as well as the annual invoicing are correct. Are you a customer through an insurance company? Then you do not have to do anything. We receive the data via your insurer.
• We renew our absence management subscriptions at the beginning of December each year and invoice for this renewal in advance, unless otherwise agreed (e.g. in the case of absence insurance). 

​Convenience: direct debit

If you do not want to worry about your invoices, simply use direct debit. You can authorise us using the SEPA form. Please email the completed and signed form to info@arboned.nl.  Of course you can always cancel or change the direct debit.

Any questions?

If you still have questions about your invoices, please check our frequently asked questions or call 030 299 6111.

Website and newsletters

• Information and practical tips about reducing absence, reducing work-related risks, promoting health, and complying with the law can be found on our website.
• Every quarter we will send you an email with tips and practical tools to prevent absence. Here you can register for our newsletter, so that you will receive monthly updates on the Working Conditions Act and (the prevention of) absence. Note: in Dutch.

Practical Guide on Doing Healthy Business Together

In this practical guide you can read how you to deal with your (preventive) occupational health and safety issues in your company and how you can use ArboNed’s knowledge and expertise.

Download the practical guide

Tip: download the guide and open it with a PDF viewer rather than your browser.

As an employer, you are required to inform your employees of the leave of absence request rules. Your employees must follow these absence rules.  It is wise to put down on paper how employees should report sick within your company. Such a document is called an absence protocol.

What is included in an absence protocol?

• Describe how, to whom and at what time your employee must report sick (at the latest).  ​
• Also provide information on what your employee should do if they cannot reach their contact (immediately).
• And indicate what your employee should do if they have to hand over tasks or reschedule appointments. 
• Also state how an employee reports fit for work again.

Example of absence protocol

​Download a model protocol below, which you can adjust to the situation in your company, and share it with your employees:

Download absence protocol - with questionnaire

Download absence protocol – without digital questionnaire

Download a short message below to inform your employees about ArboNed and your regular contact. You can adjust the text to your situation and share it via email, the intranet or your notice board, for example.

Information about ArboNed for your employees

No one benefits from absence. Employees have health problems, employers miss their employees and have to bear costs that are not offset by revenues. In other words, you prevent a lot of misery if you can reduce absence within your organisation. In fact: investing in prevention has a positive impact. You demonstrate good employment practice and motivate your employees. You comply with your legal obligations, thus avoiding fines. 

The basis for preventing absence is mapping out the work-related risks in your company. You can do this with the Risk Assessment and Evaluation (RAE). 

We can support you in conducting and/or testing the RAE. Would rather (first) start yourself? Download the practical guide for concrete guidance.

A good occupational health and safety policy is important. I don’t think everyone realises how much a sick employee costs. And as an employer, you have a moral obligation towards your employees. They must be able to do their jobs safely and in good health.  ​

- Rolf Bouwman, deputy director at AG Ems Nederland

Prevention worker​

Thanks to the prevention officer, organisations are devoting extra attention to the prevention of absence. Every company must appoint one or more prevention officers. In smaller companies (maximum of 25 employees), the director/owner can take on the role of prevention worker themselves. 

Success story from practice

‘Thanks to the RAE, we have all the safety risks mapped out,’ says Frans Kalkhoven of Toyota Material Handling. ‘What is very important is that you create sufficient support on the shop floor for safety. So make sure people stay engaged. Communicate well about it.’ 

What is your organisation’s status in terms of health and vitality? What energises your employees and what causes them stress? ArboNed’s Preventive Medical Examination (PME) answers those questions and more for you. Via an online questionnaire and relevant physical examinations, your employees gain insight into their mental and physical health. If necessary, they receive practical advice. It is a way of promoting health and vitality within your company.

​The PME is more than a statutory obligation. As an employer, you show your appreciation for your employees and demonstrate that their health is important to you. Do you want to start working on health in your company? Then download our practical guide A healthy business.

Success story from practice

Jan Hak is Team Leader of the Recycling Centres at waste collector Avri. He participated in the Preventive Medical Examination and it had a significant impact on him. How exactly, Jan tells in this video:

As much as one-third of long-term absence has a psychological reason. If the causes are work-related, psychological absence is chiefly due to work-related psychosocial stress (WPS), which has been one of the main work-related risks for many years. WPS is explained in Section 1 of the Working Conditions Act. WPS includes all factors that can cause stress at work. For instance: aggression, violence, sexual harassment, bullying and work pressure.

ArboNed offers targeted services in the field of psychosocial counselling. More information? Contact us. 

Checklist for your WPS policy

Don't give absence due to undesirable behaviour or a high workload a chance. Use our checklist and immediately start with your own WPS policy.

Download the checklist

Work is healthy and work pressure is not necessarily bad. As a matter of fact: we need work pressure to perform and it can even lead to flow. If the strain is too great, a healthy work pressure can turn into stress-related complaints. Our performance, our well-being and even our health can suffer. It is all about the right balance. ​

​

Work-related stress 

Stress in or caused by the work situation is called work-related stress. This may be a consequence of the amount of work, but may also be due to how someone experiences the pressure of work. For example, an employee who is too perfectionistic may feel like they are falling short or losing control.

Private circumstances can also cause stress, for example if someone is a carer in addition to their job. If there are too few opportunities for recovery and ‘recharging’, stress can lead to sick leave. 

The approach  ​

The good news is that there is often something you can do about it.  That starts with a good conversation: what exactly is the matter? Depending on the problem, the approach focuses on the work itself (the amount and/or content), or on your employee’s resilience. For example, a person may learn new skills to deal with stressful situations. In this way you can prevent serious consequences, such as long-term absence due to burn-out. 

More information? Download the practical guide ​

As an employer, you must report a sickness notification to your occupational health and safety service within one week at the latest. The sooner the better. At ArboNed this is done via the online absence portal Vandaag. If you are a customer through an insurer, you should report sickness via your insurer’s portal.

Note: report each case of absence. Even if someone ‘only’ has the flu and feels better in a few days. 

Online absence portal Vandaag

In Vandaag, you can monitor absence closely. You will find a draft action plan that has already been partly filled in. You can also see the schedule of the activities required under the Eligibility for Permanent Incapacity Benefit (Restrictions) Act, such as an invitation to surgery and Problem Analysis. And you can easily create up-to-date absence reports.

Vandaag is subject to ArboNed’s privacy policy.​

Creating an account
If all went well, you have received an email with a user name. This allows you to log in as soon as your contract starts. If you do not have the email (anymore), you can request a new user name here (in Dutch).

Entering sickness or return-to-work notification
This is how you can quickly report sickness, turnover or return-to-work notifications:

• Log into Vandaag.
• Click on Werknemers [Employees], you will now see the List of Employees.
• In the top-left corner of the screen you can search for an employee or make a selection using drop-down menus.
• Select the correct employee by single-clicking on the correct line; you can select multiple employees by holding down the Ctrl key.  
• At the bottom of the screen click Melden [Report]. 
• You now see the screen where you can report sickness, turnover and return-to-work notifications. 
• Complete all fields and click Verzuim/ wijziging bevestigen [Confirm absence/change].  

Detailed instructions can be found in Vandaag.

You report sick notifications via your insurer’s portal, but Vandaag is also relevant to you. Vandaag offers you 24/7 access to absence files, feedback and surgery dates. You will also find an overview of the agreed services and the invoices.

A sick employee generally wants to return to work as soon as possible. And as an employer, you want the same of course. Under the Eligibility for Permanent Incapacity Benefit (Restrictions) Act, your employee and you must take a number of steps to this end together with the occupational health and safety service.

Read in this article what actions are required under the Eligibility for Permanent Incapacity Benefit (Restrictions) Act.