If an employee cannot return from holiday on time, the employer must be informed of this – even where the delay is caused by car trouble or a minor accident on the way. In this ruling, the Court of Appeal Arnhem-Leeuwarden confirmed that an employee was rightly dismissed on the spot after his unauthorised absence following annual leave.
Facts
The employee had worked for the employer since 1 May 2008. He holds Polish nationality and does not speak Dutch. In October 2022, the employer informed staff that in 2023 there would be a collective shutdown for holidays in weeks 32 and 33, which employees could extend by one week. The employee requested leave from week 30 to week 33. The employer initially refused this request due to a heavy workload. Following a later conversation, the employee was given permission to take three weeks of leave starting in week 30, on the express condition that he would be back at work from Monday to Thursday in week 33.
On 21 July 2023, the employee was involved in a car accident while travelling to his holiday address in Poland. Two days later, he asked a Polish colleague to inform the employer of the accident, which the colleague did. The employee collected his car from the garage on 16 August and returned to the Netherlands on 18 August. He did not report for work in week 33 (on 14 August), and never informed the employer that there were problems with his car or that it would take so long to get it back from the garage. On 14 August, the employer informed the employee in writing that he was being given one final chance to come to work, and that failure to do so would result in summary dismissal. Because the employee again failed to report for work on 15 August, he was summarily dismissed.
Subdistrict court
The subdistrict court ruled that the summary dismissal had been wrongly given.
Court of Appeal
According to the Court of Appeal, an employee’s failure to show up for work, despite clear agreements that he would, can constitute urgent cause for dismissal. Moreover, the employer had already indicated that consequences would follow from failing to show up, and summary dismissal could reasonably be understood to be among those consequences. The employee had not looked into whether he could travel back to the Netherlands in time by other means. Nor had he informed the employer of the problems with his car. Even once his car became available again, he still waited before returning to the Netherlands. The Court of Appeal ruled that the unauthorised absence on 15 August constituted urgent cause, and that the employer had rightly given summary dismissal on 18 August.
For the full ruling, click here (in Dutch).
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