Our Blog
Law and More – Articles and News

Objection or appeal against IND decision
If you disagree with the IND’s decision, you can object or appeal it. This could result in you receiving a favorable decision on your application. Objection An unfavorable decision on your application The IND will give a decision on your application in the form of a decision. If a negative decision has been made on

Pregnancy discrimination on extension of employment contract
Introduction Law & More recently counseled an employee of the Wijeindhoven Foundation in her application to the Human Rights Board (College Rechten voor de Mens) as to whether the foundation made a prohibited distinction on the basis of sex because of her pregnancy and to handle her discrimination complaint negligently. The Human Rights Board is

Recognition as a sponsor
Companies regularly bring employees from abroad to the Netherlands. Recognition as a sponsor is mandatory if your company wants to apply for a residence permit for one of the following purposes of stay: highly skilled migrant, researchers within the meaning of Directive EU 2016/801, study, au pair, or exchange. When do you apply for Recognition

Association with limited legal capacity
Legally, an association is a legal entity with members. An association is formed for a specific purpose, for example, a sports association, and can make its own rules. The law distinguishes between an association with total legal capacity and an association with limited legal capacity. This blog discusses the important aspects of the association with

Terminating conditions in an employment contract
One of the ways to terminate an employment contract is by entering a resolutive condition. But under what conditions may a resolutive condition be included in an employment contract, and when does the employment contract end after that condition has occurred? What is a resolutive condition? When drafting an employment contract, contractual freedom applies to

The ins and outs of the zero-hours contract
For many employers, it is attractive to offer employees a contract without fixed working hours. In this situation, there is a choice between three forms of on-call contracts: an on-call contract with preliminary agreement, a min-max contract and the zero-hours contract. This blog will discuss the latter variant. Namely, what does a zero-hours contract mean

Sample letter of wage claim
When you have performed labour as an employee, you are entitled to wages. The specifications surrounding the payment of wages are regulated in the employment contract. If the employer does not pay the wages (on time), it is in default and you can file a wage claim. When to file wage claim? There are several

Notice of default example
What is a notice of default? Unfortunately, it happens often enough that a contracting party fails to fulfil its obligations, or fails to do so on time or properly. A notice of default gives this party another opportunity to (properly) comply within a reasonable period. After expiry of the reasonable period – mentioned in the

Personnel files: how long can you keep data?
Employers process a lot of data on their employees over time. All this data is stored in a personnel file. This file contains important personal data and, for this reason, it is essential that this is done securely and correctly. How long are employers allowed (or, in some cases, required) to keep this data? In

Checklist personnel file AVG
As an employer, it is important to store your employees’ data properly. In doing so, you are obliged to keep personnel records of employees’ personal data. When storing such data, the Privacy Act General Data Protection Regulation (AVG) and the Implementation Act General Data Protection Regulation (UAVG) must be taken into account. The AVG imposes

Share capital
What is share capital? Share capital is equity divided into shares of a company. It is the capital stipulated in the company agreement or articles of association. A company’s share capital is the amount at which a company has issued or can issue shares to shareholders. Share capital is also part of a company’s liabilities. Liabilities are debts

Fixed-term employment contract
Whereas fixed-term employment contracts used to be the exception, they seem to have become the rule. A fixed-term employment contract is also called a temporary employment contract. Such an employment contract is concluded for a limited period. It is often concluded for six months or a year. In addition, this contract can also be concluded

Defamation and libel: differences explained
Libel and slander are terms that originate from the Criminal Code. They are crimes punishable by fines and even prison sentences, although, in the Netherlands, someone rarely ends up behind bars for libel or slander. They are mainly criminal terms. But someone guilty of libel or slander also commits an unlawful act (Art. 6:162 of

Is a pension scheme mandatory?
Yes and no! The main rule is that an employer is not obliged to offer a pension scheme to employees. In addition, in principle, employees are not obliged to participate in a pension scheme provided by the employer. In practice, however, there are many situations where this main rule does not apply, leaving an employer

What are the employer’s obligations under the Working Conditions Act?
Every employee of a company must be able to work safely and healthily. The Working Conditions Act (further abbreviated as Arbowet) is part of the Occupational Health and Safety Act, which consists of rules and guidelines to promote a safe working environment. The Working Conditions Act contains obligations with which employers and employees must comply.

When does a claim expire?
If you want to collect an outstanding debt after a long time, there may be a risk that the debt is time-barred. Claims for damages or claims may also be time-barred. How does prescription work, what are limitation periods, and when do they start to run? What is a limitation of a claim? A claim is time-barred if the creditor

What is a claim?
A claim is simply a demand someone has on another, i.e., a person or company. A claim often consists of a money claim, but it can also be a claim for a give or make a claim from undue payment or a claim for damages. A creditor is a person or company that is owed a

Depriving father of parental authority: is it possible?
If the father cannot care for and raise a child, or a child is seriously threatened in his development, termination of parental authority may follow. In several cases, mediation or other social assistance may offer a solution, but termination of parental authority is a logical choice if that fails. Under what conditions can the father’s

Employee wants to work part-time – what’s involved?
Flexible working is a sought-after employment benefit. Indeed, many employees would like to work from home or have flexible working hours. With this flexibility, they can better combine work and private life. But what does the law say about this? The Flexible Working Act (Wfw) gives employees the right to work flexibly. They can apply to the

Acknowledgment and parental authority: the differences explained
Acknowledgment and parental authority are two terms that are often mixed up. Therefore, we explain what they mean and where they differ. Acknowledgment The mother from whom the child is born is automatically the child’s legal parent. The same applies to the partner who is the married or registered partner to the mother on the

Employee obligations during illness
Employees have certain obligations to fulfill when they become ill and are sick. A sick employee must report sick, provide certain information and comply with further regulations. When absenteeism occurs, both employer and employee have rights and obligations. In outline, these are the primary obligations of the employee: The employee must report sick to the

Statutory indexation of alimony 2023
Every year, the government increases alimony amounts by a certain percentage. This is called indexation of alimony. The increase depends on the average increase in wages in the Netherlands. The indexation of child and partner alimony is meant to correct for the increase in salaries and the cost of living. The Minister of Justice sets

Transgressive behaviour in the workplace
#MeToo, the drama surrounding The Voice of Holland, the fear culture at De Wereld Draait Door, and so on. The news and social media are teeming with stories about transgressive behavior in the workplace. But what is the employer’s role when it comes to transgressive behavior? You can read about it in this blog. What

Consequences of non-compliance with the collective agreement
Most people know what a collective agreement is, its benefits and which one applies to them. However, many people do not know the consequences if the employer does not comply with the collective agreement. You can read more about that in this blog! Is compliance with the collective agreement mandatory? A collective agreement sets out

Dismissal on a permanent contract
Is dismissal allowed on a permanent contract? A permanent contract is an employment contract in which you do not agree on an end date. So your contract lasts indefinitely. With a permanent contract, you cannot be fired quickly. This is because such an employment contract only ends when you or your employer give notice. You

Goods legally viewed
When talking about property in the legal world, it often has a different meaning than you are usually used to. Goods include things and property rights. But what does this actually mean? You can read more about this in this blog. Goods The subject property includes goods and property rights. Goods can be divided into

Divorce in the Netherlands for non-Dutch nationals
When two Dutch partners, married in the Netherlands and living in the Netherlands, want to divorce, the Dutch court naturally has jurisdiction to pronounce this divorce. But what about when it comes to two foreign partners married abroad? Recently, we regularly receive questions regarding Ukrainian refugees who want to divorce in the Netherlands. But is

Changes in employment law
The labour market is constantly changing due to various factors. One is the needs of employees. These needs create friction between employer and employees. This causes the rules of labour law to have to change along with them. As of 1 August 2022, a number of important changes have been introduced within labour law. Through

Additional sanctions against Russia
After seven sanctions packages introduced by the government against Russia, an eighth sanctions package has now also been introduced on 6 October 2022. These sanctions come on top of measures imposed against Russia in 2014 for annexing Crimea and failing to implement the Minsk agreements. The measures focus on economic sanctions and diplomatic measures. The

Property within (and after) marriage
Getting married is what you do when you are madly in love with each other. Unfortunately, it happens often enough that after a while, people no longer want to be married to each other. Divorce does not usually go as smoothly as entering a marriage. In many cases, people argue about almost everything involved in