A dismissal or redundancy ban (‘opzegverbod’) prevents your employer from being able to end your employment. If your employer attempts to end your contract while the ban is in effect, you must notify them in writing that the dismissal or redundancy is invalid. Make sure you do this within 2 months of receiving your dismissal or redundancy notice. If your employer does not continue paying your wages after this, you will be entitled to bring the issue before a district judge (‘kantonrechter’).

Your employer will automatically face a dismissal or redundancy ban in the following situations:

• You are ill, which means the ban will remain in place for the first 2 years of your illness.
• Your employer has not done enough to support your return to work and has therefore received a sick pay sanction (‘loonsanctie’).
• You are pregnant, which means the ban will cover the duration of your maternity leave and the first 6 weeks after you return to work.
• You are ill when your maternity leave ends and your illness is due to conditions related to pregnancy or childbirth.
• You are a member of, or have put yourself forward as a candidate for, either a works council (‘ondernemingsraad’), a staff representative committee (‘personeelsvertegenwoordiging’) or a health and safety committee (‘arbocommissie’). The ban will remain in force for up to 2 years after your membership ends.
• You are an occupational health and safety professional (‘arbodeskundige’).
• You have been conscripted into the military (‘dienstplicht’).

A dismissal or redundancy ban also applies if your employer tries to end your contract for any of the following reasons:

• Your employer wants to dismiss you because you are a member of a trade union (‘vakbond’) or involved in trade union activities.
• Your employer wants to end your contract because of a company takeover (‘overgang van onderneming’).
• Your employer wants to dismiss you solely because you requested parental leave (‘ouderschapsverlof’) or compassionate leave (‘zorgverlof’).
• You are a data protection officer (‘functionaris gegevensbescherming’) and your employer wants to dismiss you solely for carrying out your required work duties.

Please note: The rules in your collective agreement override the general law in cases where differences occur. This means even if a ban would normally prevent your employer from ending your contract, they may still have the right to dismiss you or make you redundant if your collective agreement permits this. You should therefore always check your collective agreement.

Your employer is required to give you advance notice if they want to end your contract. This notice period (‘opzegtermijn’) begins the day after you were told about your dismissal or redundancy and ends on your last day with the company. Throughout this period, you will receive your regular salary.

Your employment contract or collective agreement (‘CAO’) should specify how much notice your employer is required to give you. If this is not mentioned, the statutory notice period (‘wettelijke opzegtermijn’) applies. You and your employer can extend this period if you both agree to this in writing. However, it cannot be shortened unless your collective agreement specifically permits this.

Keep in mind if your employer does not establish a notice period, or if it is shorter than required, you could be left without a source of income during this time. This is because you are only entitled to an unemployment benefit after the legally required notice period has passed.

If you are on a fixed-term contract (‘tijdelijk contract’) lasting 6 months or longer, your employer must inform you in advance on whether your contract will be renewed or not. They must do this in writing and at least 1 month before your contract ends. This requirement is referred to as the renewal or termination notice obligation (‘aanzegplicht’).

If your employer fails to meet this obligation, they must compensate you with 1 month’s salary. If they do not notify you on time, they will have to compensate you for each day of delay.

Keep in mind the renewal or termination notice obligation does not apply in the following situations:

• fixed-term contacts lasting less than 6 months
• fixed-term contracts that do not have an agreed end date, such as those for the duration of a specific project
• fixed-term contracts that have an agency stipulation (‘uitzendbeding’)

You will be entitled to an unemployment benefit after your contract ends if you meet the following criteria:

• You are covered for unemployment (this is usually the case if you worked for an employer).
• Your working hours have been reduced by at least 5 hours a week.
• You are available for work.
• You worked at least 26 weeks out of the last 36 weeks before becoming unemployed.
• You are not responsible for your own unemployment.

If your employment ends at your employer’s initiative, you will be entitled to dismissal or redundancy pay (‘transitievergoeding’). This is a one-off payment that must be included in your final pay (‘eindafrekening’). The amount you will receive will depend on your length of service.

Should your employer have to permanently reduce your working hours, then this could be seen as a partial termination of your contract (‘gedeeltelijke beëindiging arbeidsovereenkomst’). In such cases, you may qualify for dismissal or redundancy pay if the following criteria are met:

• Your reduced working hours are a necessity due to factors such as business reasons or a long-term occupational disability.
• Your working hours have been reduced by at least 20%.
• Your working hours have been reduced permanently.

Keep in mind if your contract ends by mutual consent (‘wederzijds goedvinden’) you will not be entitled to dismissal or redundancy pay as the contract is not ending on your employer’s initiative.

Your employer must pay you everything you are owed when your contract ends. Additionally, if you owe them money, they may deduct this from your final pay. Your final pay could therefore end up being quite different to your regular pay.

It is important that you understand how your final pay was calculated. Check your payslip to ensure you have been paid correctly and to identify any unexpected deductions. Items you might expect to see on your payslip include the following:

• holiday pay
• dismissal or redundancy pay
• deductions for training courses

If you request a reference (‘getuigschrift’) from your employer, they are legally required to provide one. The reference should, at a minimum, include the following information:

• your name and job title
• your work duties
• your length of service with the company

You can also ask your employer to include additional details about your job performance and personality, but keep in mind they are not obliged to do this.