Littler (JD Supra Netherlands)

In the Netherlands, employers are liable for harm suffered by employees during their work. This can include psychological damage due to sexual harassment.

The Sub-District Court in Maastricht upheld the summary dismissal of an employee who travelled to an orange zone destination despite his employer’s COVID-19 travel restrictions.

In the Netherlands, the end of a fixed-term employment contract is usually linked to a calendar date. Another possibility is for its duration to be linked to a particular piece of work or a project, provided that it is possible to specify with a sufficient degree of objectivity when that work or project will be completed.

Employers in the Netherlands should take action if they find out that a (soon-to-be or) former employee is going to work for a competitor. If they do not do so or fail to do so on time, they risk being left empty-handed, as is apparent from a decision by the Court of Appeal of ‘s-Hertogenbosch.

In the Netherlands, employers are generally prohibited from dismissing sick employees in the event of a reorganization, even if those employees are eligible for dismissal based on the reflection principle. The reflection principle (in Dutch: afspiegelingsbeginsel) provides selection criteria in case of redundancies.

The Dutch Court of Appeal recently addressed damages owed in a dismissal action where both the employer and employee acted with serious culpability. The question for the court was who was to blame for the termination of the employment contract? Should the employee lose her right to any payment? Should the employer pay everything? Or…

A recent Dutch Court of Appeal decision demonstrates the importance of conducting a fair investigation into charges of employee misconduct. The court in this case awarded “immaterial” damages to a manager whose job was terminated lawfully for the injury to her reputation resulting from a lack of due care in the misconduct investigation.

The District Court of The Hague recently ruled that, because it is an unforeseen circumstance, the coronavirus crisis caused a fundamental imbalance in a lease agreement between a restaurant owner and the lessor. The court found that this imbalance justifies a reduction in the rent.

Apart from summary dismissal situations, employers in the Netherlands can terminate an employment contract only if (i) they have reasonable grounds for doing so, and (ii) reassigning the employee within a reasonable timeframe is impossible or impractical.

A deliveryman for a confectionery chain who was suspended because he repeatedly refused to wear a mask is not entitled to his salary, the District Court of Utrecht ruled last week.

The District Court of Rotterdam recently reaffirmed that if employees are able to work but refuse to do so with a suitable excuse, an employer can stop paying their salary.

A recurring discussion whenever there is a proposal to dismiss a managing director is whether they actually are a managing director under the articles of association (statutair bestuurder). This is an important question because a managing director under the articles of association enjoys less protection from dismissal than does a “regular” employee.

On October 19, 2020, the Arnhem-Leeuwarden Court of Appeal ruled on whether an employer had met its duty of notification and whether it owed compensation in lieu of notifying the employee about his contract extension. Under Dutch law, no later than one month before a fixed-term employment contract is due to end, the employer must inform the employee in writing whether or not the contract will be...

The Central Netherlands District Court recently held that failure to turn up at work and to contact an employer about the absence justifies summary dismissal.

On 1 January 2006, the tax advantage of the VUT and other early retirement programs in the Netherlands was abolished. Since then, the applicable pension scheme in place has been designed to offer employees a bridge payment until they reach pension age, in the form of an Early Retirement Scheme (“RVU”).

A probationary period sometimes isn't long enough to gain a good impression of an employee and the employer might still want to give the employee a further chance. In a recent case, the District Court of Midden-Nederland (click here, Dutch only) involved a situation where the employer had contrived something along these lines.

In May, the Dutch government extended until October 1, 2020, the economic relief package related to the coronavirus crises, known as the NOW 2.0 scheme. Under this wage subsidy program, businesses that suffer at least a 20% loss in their revenue over a three-month period receive a subsidy of up to 90% of their wage costs, proportionate to the loss in revenue.

The Dutch Supreme Court issued a decision in November 2019 on whether “dormant employment” arrangements were permissible. Employment becomes dormant when the employee is unfit for work for more than 104 weeks.

On May 28, 2020, the Dutch government announced that the economic relief package in connection with the coronavirus crisis will be extended by one month, to October 1, 2020. This extension will allow the government and social partners more time to make long-term arrangements to deal with the financial crisis.

The Dutch Temporary Emergency Bridging Measure to Preserve Employment (Tijdelijke Noodmaatregel Overbrugging voor Werkbehoud, “NOW”) will be extended by three months. As previously discussed, the NOW program provides that businesses that suffer at least a 20% loss in their revenue over a three-month period will receive a subsidy of up to 90% of their wage costs, proportionate to the loss in...

Recently, the Court of Appeal in Den Bosch ruled on a case involving an employee’s claim for wages three years after she had stopped being called up for work. According to the court, the employee had deliberately neglected her duties and had shown no willingness to do her job.

Restrictive COVID-19 measures are affecting the evaluation of employers’ rehabilitation efforts. Under Dutch law, an employer is obligated to continue paying the salary of an employee who is on leave because of an illness for the first two years of the illness.

We recently reported on the risks of scanning employees’ fingerprints. After the District Court of Amsterdam reprimanded a shoe store chain last summer for using fingerprint scans to access the tills, Dutch Department store chain HEMA decided to ban these scans at the end of 2019.

Last week, Dutch Minister Koolmees sent a letter to the Lower House, confirming an expansion of the temporary Emergency Bridging Measure for Job Opportunities program ("NOW").

In the Netherlands, a secondment provision in a collective labour agreement (CLA) concerning the treatment of ill workers has been established practice for some time.

Employers frequently ask whether they may amend their existing pension plan schemes unilaterally. In the Netherlands, employees have to agree to pension plan amendments, separately from the works council. The employer may only amend the pension plan unilaterally in exceptional cases.

The Dutch government provided an update on the temporary Emergency Fund Bridging Employment (“NOW”) program.

On March 27, 2020, the government of the Netherlands announced that the Temporary Benefit for Self-Employed Professionals (Tijdelijke Overbruggingsregeling Zelfstandig Ondernemers) (“Tozo”) is to be made available this week.

As previously discussed, the coronavirus outbreak has led to an abundance of employer applications to the Ministry of Social Affairs and Employment for permits to reduce their working hours (Werktijdverkorting, or WTV). On March 17, 2020, however, the cabinet revoked the WTV program.

An increasing number of employers in the Netherlands are applying to the Ministry of Social Affairs and Employment for permits to reduce their working hours (Werktijdverkorting, or WTV) arising from the coronavirus (COVID-19) and the resulting government measures.