For dismissal of an employee in case of economic reasons (bedrijfseconomische redenen) or for reasons of long-term incapacity for work (langdurige arbeidsongeschiktheid), a dismissal permit (ontslagvergunning) has to be requested from the Dutch Employee Insurance Agency, the UWV.
The UWV created the Implementing Rules for the Dismissal Procedure (Uitvoeringsregels ontslagprocedure) for transparency purposes in September 2020. As of April 2023, the UWV updated the previous version of these Rules and expanded it in several places.
The important changes
> The UWV clarifies that the employer can use several economic reasons for dismissal, for example, reduced work, an organizational or technical change and a bad financial situation. Each cause must be substantiated and explained, as the UWV sets out in paragraph 1.2.1;
> The employer cannot terminate the employment contract during the first two years;
of illness unless it concerns an employee who has reached the state pension age. The current transitional law for these employees is expected to expire on 1 July 2023, so the cancellation prohibition will be six weeks from that date (instead of the current 13 weeks);
>In case of collective redundancy (dismissing at least 20 employees within one geographical work area within three months), the rules from the Notification of Collective Redundancies Act (Wet melding collectief ontslag, WMCO) apply;
The scope of 'dismissal'
In the recent version, the UWV clarifies and expands Chapter 5 of its Implementing Rules regarding the WMCO. One of these changes follows European case law, broadening the scope of ‘dismissal’ within the meaning of the WMCO for situations in which an employer unilaterally proceeds to make a substantial change to essential elements of the employment contract for non-personal reasons. This could include part-time dismissal, a transfer offer, or reassignment under the threat of dismissal.
The updated Implementing Rules can be found (in Dutch) at: https://www.uwv.nl/werkgevers/overige-onderwerpen/achtergrondinformatie-ontslag-via-uwv/index.aspx.