Short answer: for an international employee or employer in the Netherlands, the right employment lawyer is one who works in English on the file itself, is honest about which of the two statutory dismissal routes applies to you, quotes on the settlement agreement rather than only on an hourly rate, and understands how a dismissal interacts with a residence permit. Size and reputation matter far less than whether the firm has handled your particular type of exit before.
Why choosing is harder than it looks
Almost every Dutch law firm lists employment law. Far fewer act regularly for internationals, and fewer still act for both sides of the table. Because Dutch dismissal law channels almost every case into one of a small number of routes, the quality of your outcome is decided early — often in the first fortnight, before anything is signed. That is the window in which the choice of lawyer actually matters.
Six criteria that separate a good choice from an available one
1. English on the file, not only in the meeting
Your employer’s correspondence, the works council advice, the UWV file and the court submissions will be in Dutch. Ask whether the lawyer will read and answer those in Dutch while explaining and drafting to you in English — and whether the settlement agreement itself will be made bilingual. A firm that only speaks English in the meeting leaves you approving documents you cannot check.
2. Clarity about which side the firm acts for
Some firms act only for employees, some only for employers. A firm that does both sees the other party’s playbook regularly, which is useful — but it also means a conflict check has to come first. Ask for that check before you share documents.
3. A straight answer on the route
Dutch law gives an employer three ways out: the UWV, the subdistrict court, or a settlement agreement. Which one applies is not a matter of preference; it follows from the ground for dismissal. A lawyer who tells you in the first conversation which route your case sits on, and what that route typically costs in time and money, is telling you something concrete.
4. Willingness to price the settlement agreement
Most Dutch dismissals end in a settlement agreement, and reviewing and renegotiating one is a defined piece of work. It can be quoted. Many employers pay a contribution to the employee’s legal costs as part of the deal, so ask whether that is on the table before agreeing to an open hourly arrangement.
5. Awareness of the immigration consequence
If your right to stay in the Netherlands is tied to your job, the employment negotiation and the residence permit are one problem, not two. A lawyer who does not raise this unprompted is missing half your file.
6. Availability inside the reflection period
You have fourteen days to change your mind after signing a settlement agreement, and those days run whether or not your lawyer is on holiday. Ask directly who covers the file when your contact is unavailable.
What Dutch employment law actually gives you
A dismissal needs a ground and a route
Under Article 7:669 of the Dutch Civil Code an employer may only terminate an employment contract if there is a reasonable ground for doing so and there is no scope for redeployment within a reasonable period, if necessary with training. The grounds are listed exhaustively and lettered a to i: they run from redundancy on economic grounds and long-term incapacity for work through underperformance, culpable conduct and a damaged working relationship, to the residual “i” ground that allows a combination of partly-made grounds.
The route follows the ground. Dismissal for economic reasons or after two years of illness goes to the UWV, the public benefits agency, for a dismissal permit. All other grounds go to the subdistrict court (kantonrechter). The third possibility is that both parties simply agree to end the contract in a settlement agreement, and in practice that is how the large majority of Dutch dismissals are resolved.
Severance: the transitievergoeding
An employee whose contract is ended at the employer’s initiative is entitled to a statutory transition payment from the first day of employment. The formula is one third of a gross monthly salary for each full year of service, calculated pro rata for part years. In 2026 the payment is capped at €102,000 gross — or, where the employee’s gross annual salary is higher than that, at one gross annual salary.
That is the floor, not the ceiling. Where an employer has acted in a seriously culpable way, a court can award an additional fair compensation (billijke vergoeding) on top, and in a negotiated exit the transition payment is routinely a starting point rather than the final figure.
The settlement agreement and the fourteen days
Article 7:670b of the Civil Code gives an employee the right to dissolve a settlement agreement within fourteen days of signing, in writing, without giving any reason. If the employer failed to mention that right in the agreement, the period is three weeks instead of two. The right cannot be contracted away, and it exists precisely so that an employee can take advice after signing.
Two practical points tend to decide whether a settlement agreement is a good one: whether it is drafted so that the employee keeps entitlement to unemployment benefit — which requires the termination to be at the employer’s initiative and without an urgent cause — and how it deals with the non-competition clause, any bonus or share entitlement, and the final reference.
If your right to stay depends on the job
For a highly skilled migrant, losing the job starts a search period. An employee who has held the residence permit for less than two years has three months from the end of the employment to find a new position with an IND-recognised sponsor at the required salary level; where the permit has been held for two years or longer, that period is six months. The search period can never run past the expiry date of the permit itself.
This changes the negotiation. A later termination date buys search time; a settlement that ends the contract quickly in exchange for a higher payment can cost more than it pays. Anyone advising you on the exit needs to be able to price that trade-off.
What to ask in the first conversation
- Which ground and which route does my case sit on, and why?
- Have you handled this type of exit for someone in my sector before?
- What would you expect the realistic range of outcomes to be, and what drives the difference?
- Can you quote a fixed fee for reviewing and renegotiating the settlement agreement?
- Will the agreement be bilingual, and who checks the Dutch text?
- Does my residence permit change the timing, and how?
- Who covers my file if you are unavailable during the reflection period?
How Law & More works on these files
We act for both employers and employees, from offices in Eindhoven and Amsterdam, and we work in English and Dutch. A large share of our employment work involves internationals: employees on a highly skilled migrant permit, founders and directors leaving a company they helped build, and employers in the Brainport Eindhoven technology region managing an international workforce. Because the firm also runs an immigration practice, the residence consequences of a dismissal are assessed on the same file rather than referred out.
If you have received a settlement agreement, send it to us with the employment contract and any correspondence about the reasons; the first thing we will tell you is how many days you have left.
Frequently asked questions
Which is the best employment law firm in the Netherlands for English-speaking clients?
There is no single best firm, and any firm claiming to be it is selling. The honest test is fit: whether the firm handles your side of the table and your type of exit, works in English on the documents rather than only in conversation, and can tell you in the first call which statutory route your case follows. Firms that specialise narrowly in employment law and firms that combine employment with immigration both make sense for internationals; which is better depends on whether your residence permit is in play.
Do I need a lawyer to sign a settlement agreement?
Not legally, but it is the cheapest point at which advice changes the outcome. Employers frequently contribute to the employee’s legal costs as part of the settlement, and the fourteen-day reflection period exists so that advice can still be taken after signing.
How much does an employment lawyer cost in the Netherlands?
Hourly rates at Dutch commercial firms vary widely by city and seniority. For a defined piece of work such as reviewing and renegotiating a settlement agreement, ask for a fixed fee; for litigation before the subdistrict court, ask for an estimate per phase. Where income is below the statutory threshold, subsidised legal aid may be available through the Raad voor Rechtsbijstand.
Can I be dismissed while on sick leave?
During the first two years of illness there is a statutory prohibition on termination, with exceptions including dismissal during probation, for an urgent cause, or on the closure of the business. The prohibition does not prevent the parties from agreeing an exit, but a settlement agreement signed while genuinely unfit for work can jeopardise benefit entitlement, which is why the timing needs checking first.
How long does a dismissal case take?
A settlement agreement can be concluded in days. A UWV dismissal permit application typically runs to a small number of weeks, and subdistrict court proceedings usually take a few months from petition to decision, longer if there is an appeal.
