As a result of amendments to the Work and Security Act, new dismissal law will take effect from 1 July 2015. Instead of ‘weighty reasons’ to terminate employment, you will then have to deal with a closed system of eight ‘reasonable grounds’ of dismissal.
Reasonable grounds
As an employer, you can terminate an employment contract if there are reasonable grounds for doing so. Those reasonable grounds only come into the picture if the employee - with or without training - cannot be reinstated in another suitable position.
Note! Moreover, reinstatement is not an option in cases of seriously culpable conduct on the part of the employee.
In total, from 1 July 2015, there are eight reasonable grounds for dismissal.
- Job expiry due to business economic conditions or due to the end of the business.
- The employee has been ill (unfit for work) for more than two years and there is no prospect of recovery within 26 weeks, even in the case of adapted work.
- Frequent sick leave, with no prospect of recovery within 26 weeks and no possibility of adapted work during that period.
- Employee dysfunction despite improvement process.
- Seriously culpable acts or omissions of the employee.
- Employee's refusal of work due to serious conscientious objection and there is no suitable work.
- Seriously disturbed employment relationship.
- Other reasons why the employer cannot be required to continue the employment contract.
Dismissal procedure
From 1 July 2015, the reason for dismissal will determine the route to be followed. For the first two grounds mentioned above, the dismissal procedure will go through the UWV. For all other grounds, you will have to turn to the subdistrict court.
Tip: In larger companies in particular, the collective labour agreement may include its own dismissal procedure for economic dismissals. Permission to dismiss may then go through a dismissal committee set up by the collective labour agreement. In that case, read the collective agreement.