Summary dismissal light

An instant dismissal (summary dismissal) is the most severe sanction in Dutch employment law. The employment contract is terminated immediately, and in principle, the employee is not entitled to a transition allowance or unemployment benefits (WW). In addition, the employee is liable to pay compensation to the employer equal to the gross salary over their notice period — the fixed damages compensation.

Instant Dismissal
An employee can challenge an unjust instant dismissal or claim fair compensation by submitting a petition to the court within two months. In practice, we often see employees start such proceedings even when it is crystal clear that the dismissal was justified. For instance, they may have been caught stealing, there is overwhelming evidence, and the procedure has been correctly followed. The reason an employee may still initiate proceedings in such cases is twofold: on the one hand, the legal system allows room for such actions (sometimes due to personal circumstances), and on the other hand, the employee has nothing to lose.

Termination Agreement
In such situations, an employer may choose to proceed with an instant dismissal, but under the suspensive condition that the employee does not agree — within a short reflection period — to the terms of a termination agreement. This agreement effectively amounts to a summary dismissal, but it is not: it constitutes a mutual termination, which looks far better on a CV. The agreement may also stipulate that the employee does not have to pay the fixed damages compensation.

Suspensive Condition
The Dutch Supreme Court (Hoge Raad) approved this method of dismissal as early as 1983 (Hoge Raad, November 4, 1983, NJ 1984, 187). However, one condition is that the employee must be suspended during the reflection period. If the employee continues working, it suggests that the employer does not consider the employee’s actions serious enough to bar them from the workplace permanently.

Conditions
A conditional instant dismissal (“light”) is still essentially a summary dismissal. If the employee does not agree to the termination agreement, all the strict conditions for a valid instant dismissal must still be met:

• the reason must be serious enough;

• the reason must genuinely be serious for the employer (not something that has been tolerated for years);

• the employer must communicate the dismissal and the reason without delay;

• the employer must give the employee an opportunity to present their side of the story;

• personal circumstances also play a role in the court’s assessment: age, length of service, employment history, and labor market position.