Midden-Nederland District Court, 24 June 2026, ECLI:NL:RBMNE:2026:3980
Facts
The employee had been employed by the employer since 12 October 2024.
In September 2025, a dispute arose between the parties over holiday leave the employee wanted to take in October. The employer refused permission because the employee did not have sufficient holiday hours available. The employee, however, wanted to stick to her holiday plans.
According to the employer, the parties then discussed the employee leaving employment so that she could still go on holiday. The parties jointly drew up a written notice of resignation, which stated, among other things, that the employee was terminating her employment contract and would no longer be employed as of 6 October 2025.
The employee then went on holiday.
Later, the employee claimed that she had never intended to terminate her employment contract at all. According to her, the employer had drawn up the document at the very start of her employment and had her sign it then, with the date of 6 October 2025 allegedly added later.
The employer disputed this. According to the employer, the resignation was precisely the result of the discussion about the holiday. The employer also referred to WhatsApp messages in which, after the holiday, reference was made to the resignation signed by the employee.
The employee subsequently claimed before the subdistrict court payment of her salary from 17 October 2025, plus the statutory increase and statutory interest.
Ruling
The subdistrict court dismissed the wage claim.
A valid resignation by an employee requires a clear and unambiguous statement showing that the employee wishes to terminate the employment contract. An employer must carefully verify whether the employee genuinely wants to leave.
According to the subdistrict court, this was the case here.
The written statement explicitly said that the employee was terminating her employment contract and would no longer be employed as of 6 October 2025. It also referred to the return of company property and receiving a final settlement.
In addition, the subdistrict court found the employer’s explanation of the reason for the resignation plausible. The parties had discussed the desired holiday while the employee did not have sufficient holiday hours. The employee nevertheless wanted to leave, after which the possibility of ending the employment was discussed.
The employee’s claim that she had signed the document blank or incomplete much earlier was insufficiently substantiated.
The WhatsApp messages also supported the employer’s version of events. They referred afterwards to the resignation the employee had signed before her holiday. According to the subdistrict court, it stood to reason that the employee would have responded immediately if she had not resigned at all.
The subdistrict court therefore concluded that the employee had validly terminated her employment contract as of 6 October 2025.
Because the employment had ended as of that date, the employee was no longer entitled to the salary she claimed from 17 October 2025 onwards.
What does this mean for employers?
Disputes about holiday leave can escalate quickly during the summer period, particularly when an employee has already booked a trip but does not have enough holiday days left, or is refused leave.
This ruling mainly shows that caution is needed when such a dispute ultimately results in a resignation by the employee. An employer should not readily assume that an employee is resigning on their own initiative. It must be clear and unambiguous that the employee genuinely wants to end the employment.
Always record a resignation in writing, and make sure the statement clearly shows the date on which the employee wants to leave and that they are aware of the consequences.
In this case, the written statement was sufficiently clear. It also helped that the circumstances surrounding the resignation, and the later WhatsApp messages, were consistent with the employer’s version of events.
An employee who is refused holiday leave obviously cannot be forced to resign because of that refusal. However, if an employee clearly and deliberately chooses to end their employment in order to go on leave anyway, they cannot simply go back on that decision later.
Do you have questions about holiday requests, insufficient holiday days, a resignation by an employee, or the termination of an employment contract? Please contact one of our employment lawyers.
