Settlement Agreement Netherlands

You have the right to refuse a settlement agreement. If you do, your job will remain unchanged. Rejecting a settlement agreement does not change your rights, except that you lose the right to that offer. Employers can therefore announce a voluntary departure program. In this program, employers ask their employees if they are willing to leave the company voluntarily in exchange for a predefined settlement agreement. You can never lose! Therefore, seek our professional legal assistance today to negotiate your settlement agreement with good financial compensation for the dismissal. Call 0900 -123 73 24 or send us an email In a collective employment agreement or employment contract, the termination rules may differ from those described above. With a fixed-term contract, you usually have to wait until the end of the contract period. In most cases, it is not recommended to enter into a settlement agreement if you are sick. Secondly, it is often not possible to receive unemployment benefits or benefits under the Sickness Benefits Act. However, there are exceptions, especially if the ”illness” is related to the employment relationship (situational disability). Also read: Illness in Settlement Agreements. In any case, seek expert advice before accepting a settlement agreement in such a situation.

Settlement Agreement Sample: If you need a sample settlement agreement, you can download an example here. Under Dutch law, employees are very well protected against dismissal if they have concluded an employment contract of indefinite duration. In principle, employers can only fire an employee for certain reasons, such as disruption in performance or a bad relationship. Depending on the specific reason for the dismissal, an employer must obtain the dismissal permit either from the court or from the Dutch employee insurance agency, called ”UWV”. However, an employer may also offer the employee a settlement agreement. If the employee agrees to such a settlement, no court or UWV authorization is required. An employer cannot force you to sign a settlement agreement. it`s always your choice. In the settlement agreement, employers and employees should take into account the employer`s notice period.

A termination agreement may contain the following information: The employer and employee may also choose a previous termination date. In this case, the employee should ensure that the employer continues to pay the employee for his salary during the notice period by increasing the payment of the settlement by a lump sum corresponding to this salary. This is also important if the employee wants to apply for unemployment benefit, which is called a ”WW-uitkering”. These benefits will only be paid after the expiry of the applicable notice period. You must have a clear understanding of the content of the settlement agreement. This means that you weigh the benefits and risks of the company`s offer in relation to the dismissal in terms of: your planned transition allowance, your unemployment benefit, non-competition clauses, vacation days, vacation pay, unpaid salary, company shares, options, bonuses and pensions, and what losing your job means for your residency rights. Employers and employees can conclude written agreements on the termination of a Dutch employment contract in a termination agreement. If the employer offers you a settlement agreement, you have the choice to accept the offer and give up or reject your employment and wait for you to be fired in accordance with customary labour law. This decision deserves your attention. A severance agreement is a contract. If the parties have mutually agreed to terminate a contract of employment, the agreements between the employee and the employer are often set out in a settlement agreement.

Settlement agreements are an increasingly popular method of resolving labour disputes and are often used when an employer needs to terminate an individual`s employment relationship. If you are unsure of the content of your settlement agreement or the consequences for your situation, it is worth consulting a lawyer. For this reason, employers may include an allowance for attorneys` fees in the settlement agreement. If you choose to accept the settlement agreement, sign it and agree to abide by the terms of the agreement. Your employment relationship ends on the agreed date and your employer pays you the agreed remuneration. You will most likely retain your current entitlement to unemployment benefits. A settlement agreement is a legal contract and, as such, its signature affects your rights. Therefore, you need to make sure that you understand exactly what this means for you and your future rights before making a decision. If you are in the Netherlands as a highly skilled migrant, you should consider including provisions for job search and gardening leave in a settlement agreement to protect your future residency rights. You are summoned by your boss. It will provide you with a termination agreement or settlement agreement (vaststellingsovereenkomst in Dutch), asking you to sign this agreement preferably as soon as possible. But should you actually do it? Should you accept your dismissal? Are you still entitled to unemployment benefits (werkeloosheidswet)? Are you not entitled to a (higher) severance package? And what about prescribed notice periods? You can read the answers to your possible questions about the settlement agreement below.

If you still have questions after reading or would like your agreement to be evaluated for FREE, you can contact us by phone or email. We can also negotiate better termination terms for you or prevent your dismissal. We will quickly advise you on settlement agreements and mutual termination agreements wherever you are in the Netherlands or abroad: employees who express interest in the company`s voluntary exit programme can then be offered a settlement agreement. It is important that employees seek sound legal advice before signing a settlement agreement. A lawyer can review the settlement agreement and also help negotiate a better deal. Usually, an employer offers to pay (partially) the legal fees for hiring a lawyer. This can be between €750 and €1,500 excluding VAT. It is also in the employer`s interest that the employee knows exactly what they are agreeing with and that they are satisfied with the agreement. Employees have a legal period of 14 days after accepting the settlement to change their mind and revoke the agreement. If you sign an agreement, your employment relationship will be terminated.

Once the settlement agreement is signed, an employer cannot make any claims against the employer. With a termination agreement, you have more control over the outcome of your dispute and avoid the risk of a judge ruling against you. A settlement is usually a compromise in which both parties give and take. For this reason, an employer must seek independent legal advice on the agreement before signing it. Our employment lawyers are also very familiar with the finer details of termination agreements. There are also non-financial aspects that can be easy to negotiate, such as the termination date, an agreed reference, post-contractual clauses, non-solicitation, non-compete obligations and the possibility of a garden holiday. In general, the final discharge concludes the settlement agreement. In this section, employers and employees confirm that once agreements are regulated in the SA, they no longer have any further claims against each other. The aim is to permanently end the relationship between the employer and the employee in the SA if possible and to ensure that no open elements remain outside the SA.

In the event of termination of the employment relationship, an employee is entitled to a so-called transitional indemnity. As of January 1, 2020, this transitional payment will be one-third of the monthly salary per year worked. However, an employee will often be able to negotiate a better deal as the employer strives to avoid lengthy and costly legal proceedings or UWVs. A few years ago, it was customary under Dutch (case law) to grant 1 month`s salary per year of service if neither the employee nor the employer was responsible for the termination of the employment contract. Often, this price is still used as a starting point for negotiations. If an employment relationship ends at the initiative of the employer, the employee is entitled to a transitional allowance under Dutch law. Transitional fees are a statutory right that has replaced the sub-district court formula as it was previously called. Since January 1, 2020, this right is valid from the first working day and regardless of the duration of employment and accumulates up to a third month of salary per year of service. However, if a different calculation or provision is provided for in a collective agreement, the employee is bound by that provision of the collective agreement (even if it is less favourable). Various tools are available online to calculate transition fees, for example on the Dutch website ontslag.nl. Do you have questions about Dutch labour law or Dutch company law? Or would you like your settlement agreement to be reviewed? Please contact Lukas Witsenburg or one of our employment lawyers.

Termination agreements usually contain strict confidentiality provisions to ensure that the content of the settlement agreement remains secret. The employee must have a reasonable period of time to review the terms of the agreement. A minimum of 14 calendar days after the conclusion of the contract is generally considered reasonable. Many employment contracts under Dutch law provide for non-solicitation and/or non-competition obligations. These clauses are usually included for the duration of the end of the employment contract, as is currently the case. .