District Court Rotterdam, 18 December 2024, ECLI:NL:RBROT:2024:12986
Handling of a poor-performance file costs employer €114,130
On 18 December 2024, the District Court Rotterdam awarded fair compensation on the grounds of seriously culpable conduct by the employer. The employer claimed the employee had been underperforming for years; the employee disputed this.
Facts
The employee had been with the employer for four years when he was told he was not performing well. The employer claimed this had been the case for years, but this was not borne out by the appraisal reports or other documents on file. The 2022 appraisal was very positive, and over the years the employee had received various rewards for a promotion and good performance.
After being told on 1 March 2024 that his performance was inadequate, an improvement plan and a proposed change of role quickly followed. On 12 April 2024, the employee was presented with a settlement agreement, and two months later he was suspended for allegedly failing to cooperate with the improvement plan and following complaints about his conduct.
Ruling
The employment contract was dissolved on the “g-ground” (a disturbed working relationship). The subdistrict court held that the employer’s conduct was seriously culpable. First, the employee’s position was drastically changed by a series of measures imposed within a very short period of just three months. A suspension is a far-reaching step, only justified by compelling circumstances, of which there were none, or at least not enough.
Even accepting that the employee’s performance had genuinely declined at some point, this approach was, in the court’s view, inconsistent with good employership. According to the court, it is understandable that the employer’s approach “did something” to the employee, as he put it himself. On top of that, there was insufficient reason for a suspension in the first place: the employer had been too quick to resort to it.
For these reasons, in addition to the statutory transition payment of €37,097.13, the employee was awarded fair compensation of €114,130.
Conclusion
This ruling underlines that employers must document poor performance and communicate it clearly to the employee. Employees must then be given a genuine opportunity to improve. Finally, any measures taken must be proportionate to the situation at hand. A heavy-handed approach can result in a substantial fair compensation award.
Do you have an underperforming employee and want to take the right steps? Please contact one of our employment lawyers.
