News in English

Supreme Court of the Netherlands, 26 September 2025, ECLI:NL:HR:2025:1386. The Supreme Court recently ruled on the study cost clause for the Dutch Bar Training Course (Beroepsopleiding Advocatuur). The ruling clarifies when an employer may reclaim training costs and confirms that the costs of mandatory professional training may not be passed on to the employee. Facts…

Gelderland District Court, 12 August 2025, ECLI:NL:RBGEL:2025:7054. This case centres on whether an employee who is fully and permanently unfit for work is entitled to payment of the transition payment and accrued holiday days. The employer refused to cooperate with ending the dormant employment contract. The subdistrict court assessed whether this position holds up in…

Midden-Nederland District Court, 17 September 2025, ECLI:NL:RBMNE:2025:4897 Midden-Nederland District Court recently ruled on the annulment of an addendum to an employment contract on the ground of mistake. The central question was whether an employee had breached her duty to disclose by not reporting her mental health symptoms when agreeing to an increase in her working…

Yesterday, the King presented the government’s policy plans for the coming year. The caretaker government put forward proposals for new employment law measures. In this article, we give an overview of the key employment law bills. Company cars and CO2 levy In the 2026 Tax Plan, the caretaker government proposes introducing a pseudo-final levy of…

The employee invoked the ban on dismissal during illness and claimed fair compensation. The Arnhem-Leeuwarden Court of Appeal ruled, however, that the disruption of the working relationship was unrelated to the sick leave and that the employer had not acted seriously culpably. No fair compensation was therefore awarded. Facts The employee started working at a…

Employers are increasingly facing delays at the UWV (Employee Insurance Agency), particularly in the assessment of WIA (occupational disability) applications and reintegration reports. These backlogs can create uncertainty: can you only start thinking about dismissal once the UWV has finished its work? The answer is no — you do not have to wait. Reintegration and…

Facts The employee had been employed by the employer since April 2000. For some time, he had struggled with cooperation problems with a colleague who, in his view, did not follow rules and instructions. The employee repeatedly raised these problems with his supervisor, but the employer took no action. He was simply told: “You’ll have…

In practice, many Dutch collective labour agreements (CLAs) distinguish between “additional hours” (meerwerk) and “overtime” (overwerk). The Court of Justice of the European Union (the Court) recently ruled that this distinction conflicts with EU law. What does this mean for employers and employees? Additional hours and overtime Part-time employees can work more hours than agreed…

An employee secretly recorded the conversation containing the promise. An employer who broke his word, and an employee who breached trust, resulted in a reduced fair compensation of EUR 2,174.10 gross. Facts The employee started working for the employer on 1 January 2024 under a fixed-term employment contract of twelve months. If he performed well,…

Supreme Court of the Netherlands, 20 September 2024, ECLI:NL:HR:2024:1278 In this ruling, the Supreme Court clarified how the statutory duty to complain applies to outstanding wages. The central question was whether an employee can still claim outstanding wages if they only raise the issue a considerable time after the end of their employment. Facts The…

From reintegration to litigation When an employee is long-term sick, the employer and employee may disagree about the progress of reintegration. In such cases, a UWV (Employee Insurance Agency) expert opinion can help. This article explains what an expert opinion involves, in which situations it can be requested, what role it plays in proceedings, and…