NETHERLANDS Law and Practice Contributed by: Inge de Laat, Tijmen Noordoven, Ilaha Muhseni and Laetitia Wezenbeek, Rutgers & Posch
Collective Dismissal If an employer intends to dismiss 20 or more employ - ees within a three-month period in a single geographi - cal working area of the UWV, this qualifies as a collec - tive dismissal under the Dutch Collective Redundancy (Notification) Act ( Wet Melding Collectief Ontslag , or WMCO). In such cases, the employer is legally required to: • notify the UWV and the relevant trade unions in writing of the intended dismissals; and • enter into consultations with the relevant trade unions (ie, representative employee organisations). When determining whether the threshold of 20 employees has been reached, the employer must also include terminations agreed upon by mutual consent, as well as cases where employees resign as a result of substantial deteriorations in their working conditions imposed or proposed by the employer. Failure to comply with the notification and consulta - tion obligations under the WMCO may have serious consequences. In such cases, an employee may claim to nullify the termination of their employment agree - ment, effectively rendering the dismissal legally inva - lid. 7.2 Notice Periods Statutory Notice Periods for Employers and Employees Under Dutch law, the following statutory notice peri - ods apply to employers when terminating an employ - ment agreement: • fewer than five years of service – one month; • five years or more, but fewer than ten years of ser - vice – two months; • ten years or more, but fewer than 15 years of ser- vice – three months; • 15 years of service or more – four months; or • when the employee reaches the state retirement age – one month. For employees, a standard notice period of one month applies. If a longer notice period is agreed upon, it must be laid down in writing. In such cases, the
• employee’s consent after the employer gives notice – the above-mentioned permission of the UWV is not required;
• termination by court decision; • termination by mutual consent; • immediate dismissal for urgent cause; or • resignation by the employee. Dismissal via the UWV
In cases of dismissal for economic reasons or long- term incapacity to work, the employer must request permission from the UWV to give notice. The UWV will only grant this permission if there is a reason - able ground for dismissal and redeployment (even after training) is not feasible or reasonable within a reasonable period. The procedure with the UWV usu - ally takes around six to eight weeks. After receiving permission, the employer may give notice, deducting the duration of the UWV procedure from the notice period, provided at least one month of notice remains. Dismissal via the Court The subdistrict court may dissolve the employment agreement if a reasonable ground for dismissal exists and redeployment is not possible or reasonable. This may apply in the following cases: • frequent and disruptive sickness absence; • incompetence or underperformance (not related to illness); • culpable actions or omissions; • serious conscientious objections preventing work; • severely damaged working relationships; • a combination of multiple dismissal grounds (cumulative dismissal); and • exceptional other circumstances. In the case of cumulative dismissal, the court may award an additional severance payment of up to 50% of the statutory transition payment, in addition to the statutory transition payment itself. After submitting the request, the employee may sub - mit a statement of defence. A hearing will be sched - uled, after which the court decides whether to termi - nate the contract, taking into account the applicable notice period. The court’s decision can be appealed.
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