The law on dismissal

Are you an employer with someone on your payroll whom you’d really prefer to let go? Or are you an employee at risk of losing your job? Whichever is the case, you will soon find yourself dealing with the Dutch law on dismissal. Already pretty complex, the law recently got even more knotty, following the enactment of the new Work and Security Act (WWZ). With the entry into force on 1 January 2020 of the Balanced Labour Market Act (WAB), things have changed once again. If you’d like to know more about the new law, you can download our white paper (currently available in Dutch only).

The law on dismissal for employers

Is there someone on your payroll whom you’d really prefer to let go?

What are your options if you can’t dismiss an employee on the spot because there are no urgent grounds on which to do so, given that the probationary period has already ended and the contract does not terminate automatically because it is for an unspecified period of time?

The law on dismissal for employees

You’re bound to find yourself asking all sorts of questions if you hear that your employer is planning to terminate your contract of employment. These include:

Can I be dismissed just like that?
Am I entitled to severance pay?
Am I entitled to unemployment benefit?
What should I do?
What should I not do?

The law on dismissal for public-sector employees

Different rules may apply if you are a public-sector employee. You are classified as a public-sector employee (or civil servant) if you are employed by a government employer under either a contract of employment or a letter of appointment (aanstellingsakte).

A number of important changes were made on 1 January 2020 with the entry into force of a new act known as the Public Servants (Standardisation of Legal Status) Act (or WNRA).