Calculate maintenance with a WGA benefit

What is the WGA and how does it count towards maintenance?

The WGA (Werkhervatting Gedeeltelijk Arbeidsgeschikten, the Dutch scheme for the partially fit for work) is part of the WIA (Wet werk en inkomen naar arbeidsvermogen, the Work and Income Act). You fall under the WGA if, after two years of illness, you are 35–80% incapacitated for work, or 80–100% but not permanently. A WGA benefit from the UWV is income and therefore counts in full in the maintenance calculation — just like wages or profit.

For the calculation, your net disposable income (NBI) is determined on the basis of:

• the gross WGA benefit from the UWV;
• any salary from (part-time) work you do alongside it;
• minus income tax and contributions;
• plus any benefits (healthcare benefit, child-related budget).

The resulting NBI then goes into the capacity calculation (if you pay) and helps determine the need.

The three phases of the WGA benefit

The amount of your WGA benefit can change over time. That matters, because with every structural change the maintenance can be recalculated:

• Wage-related benefit (LGU) — 75% of the (capped) daily wage for the first two months and 70% thereafter, less part of what you still earn. How long it runs depends on your employment history.
• Wage supplement benefit — if you use at least half of your remaining earning capacity through work.
• Follow-up benefit — if you do not use that half; this is based on the minimum wage and your degree of incapacity and is usually lower.

The maximum daily wage and the exact amounts are set by the UWV every year; for your actual figures, consult your UWV decision. The calculator uses the benefit you enter, so the result matches your real situation.

Remaining earning capacity

With partial fitness for work, the court looks not only at what you actually receive, but also at your remaining earning capacity: the income you could reasonably still earn in suitable work. If you demonstrably fail to use that capacity, the court may take that into account when determining your capacity to pay.

Paying less maintenance because of incapacity for work?

Do you enter the WGA and does your income fall structurally as a result? Then there may be a change of circumstances (Article 1:401 of the Dutch Civil Code). You can have the maintenance recalculated and — if you cannot agree together — varied by the court. Conditions: the fall must be demonstrable and not your own fault. A temporary dip usually does not lead to a permanent reduction.

A WGA benefit on the receiving side

Is it your ex-partner who receives a WGA benefit and therefore has less income? The need itself does not change: it is based on the family income during the marriage. But with the lower income your ex-partner can cover less of that need themselves. The difference — the additional need — then grows, and that is the amount for which your capacity is examined. The WGA benefit counts as your ex-partner's own income in that calculation.

• Forgetting to add the benefit to other income. If you work part-time alongside the WGA, both amounts count towards the NBI.
• Calculating with the old wage. Once you are in the WGA, your current income is decisive, not the salary from before the incapacity.
• Ignoring the remaining earning capacity. The court may attribute income you could reasonably still earn.
• Confusing a temporary dip with a structural change. Only a lasting fall in income justifies varying the maintenance.