Roughly 500 healthcare workers at risk of losing their job due to Long Covid

At least 500 healthcare workers will soon be on sick leave for two years due to Long Covid, trade union FNV reported. At the end of December, the union opened a hotline for healthcare workers who have been on sick leave for an extended period after a Covid-19 infection.

In the first three weeks after opening the hotline, the FNV received 2,087 reports. Around 70 percent of people thought they were infected with the coronavirus at work.

FNV wanted a solution to be found quickly for the people who would be on sick leave for two years. According to the union, they risk losing their job. "From next March, the first group affected will have been ill for two years. They have already received a letter from the employer's union, UWV. The FNV, therefore, wants urgent work to be done to achieve financial compensation for these healthcare workers who worked, and are still working, in the front line," FNV vice-chair Kitty Jong said.

FNV wants a compensation fund for healthcare workers who have contracted Long Covid. "This could be comparable to funds we already have in the Netherlands for occupational diseases and asbestos diseases," De Jong said. The various parties that people have to deal with when they are on sick leave for a long time, such as the UWV and employers, should also work better together, according to the FNV.

At the moment, according to the FNV, healthcare workers only get compensation if they end up in the ICU due to a Covid-19 infection or one of their loved ones dies due to Covid-19.