How does summary dismissal differ from the other termination routes?
It is the only route that needs neither your agreement nor a prior check by the UWV or the court. Dutch dismissal law is a closed system, and an employer that wants to end a permanent contract has only a limited number of routes.Under the ordinary route the employer needs permission before it can give notice. Redundancy for business economic reasons and dismissal after two years of incapacity for work go to the UWV, which grants or refuses a dismissal permit. Dismissal for reasons connected to you as a person, such as demonstrated underperformance, a disturbed working relationship or a combination of grounds, goes to the sub-district court, which dissolves the contract or refuses to.Both routes take time. Both require the notice period to be observed afterwards, and both trigger the statutory transition payment (transitievergoeding). Where the court dissolves the contract on the combination ground, it can award up to half of the transition payment again on top.The consensual routes are quicker. In a termination with your consent, the employer gives notice and you agree in writing. The notice period applies and the transition payment is due, because the employer is the party terminating. In a settlement agreement (vaststellingsovereenkomst) the contract ends by mutual consent. There is no statutory duty to pay a transition payment, so any severance is a matter of negotiation. The notice period is normally respected on paper so that your benefit position is not damaged. Both consensual routes carry a statutory right to change your mind, which we discuss below.Summary dismissal sits outside all of this. It takes effect the moment it is given, the wage stops the same day, no permit is needed and no notice period is observed. That is exactly why the conditions are strict and why the burden of proving them rests entirely on the employer. If you are dismissed with immediate effect, you carry the risk of income loss while the legality is being tested. That is why speed matters more here than in any other dismissal situation.Which three requirements does the court test?
The court checks whether there was an urgent reason, whether the employer acted without delay, and whether the reason was stated to you immediately. All three must be met at the same time. The employer must prove each of them, and a defect in one is enough to bring the dismissal down, even where the conduct itself actually happened.Was there an urgent reason?
Article 7:678 of the Civil Code defines an urgent reason as acts, characteristics or conduct of the employee that mean the employer cannot reasonably be expected to let the employment continue. The article lists examples, including theft, embezzlement, serious insult or assault, gross neglect of duties, and persistent refusal to follow reasonable instructions. The list is not exhaustive, and conduct that appears on it does not make a dismissal automatically valid.What decides the case is the weighing of all circumstances. The court looks at the nature and seriousness of the conduct, the nature and length of the employment, how you have performed over the years, and your personal circumstances, including your age and the consequences of the dismissal for you. A first incident after fifteen years of clean service is not judged in the same way as the same incident in the third month.The court also asks whether a milder measure would have been enough: a formal warning, a suspension, or a request to the sub-district court to dissolve the contract. Employers who never considered that question tend to lose on it.Company rules matter in a specific way. The threshold is easier to meet where an employer has a clear policy stating that certain conduct leads to immediate dismissal, applies that policy consistently, and can show you were aware of it. Where the rule exists on paper but similar conduct by colleagues went unpunished, the employer has a problem.Did the employer act without delay?
The dismissal must follow the discovery of the urgent reason without delay, but that does not mean within the hour. An employer may take a short period to establish the facts, hear your side and take internal or legal advice. Where the investigation is genuinely necessary and carried out quickly, the courts accept it.What is not accepted is drift: a week of silence after the facts are known, a decision postponed until after a holiday, or a suspension that runs on without anything happening. The reasoning is simple. If the employer could put up with the situation for weeks, it was evidently not so urgent that the contract could not continue for one more day.The requirement applies twice: to the discovery of the facts and to the giving of the dismissal itself. Both moments have to be documented. This is why a timeline is the most valuable document you can produce.Was the reason stated immediately and precisely?
The reason must be given to you at the moment of dismissal, clearly enough that you know straight away what you are accused of and can decide whether to accept or contest it. In practice this is confirmed in a dismissal letter sent the same day.The reason given then fixes the case. The employer cannot add new grounds later, and it cannot rely on wording that reserves the right to add reasons. Vague wording, such as a general reference to a breach of trust without the underlying facts, can on its own be enough for the dismissal to fail.Ask for the written reason on the day it happens, and keep whatever you are given. If the employer refuses to put it in writing, record in your own written protest what you were told and when.Which reasons hold up in court, and which usually do not?
Reasons that are serious, provable and recent tend to hold. Reasons that are a collection of small issues, disputed or old tend to fail. There is no fixed list of conduct that always justifies immediate dismissal; it always depends on the circumstances.Dismissals are most often upheld where:- the employee took money or goods belonging to the employer, a colleague or a customer, however small the amount, because the breach of trust rather than the value is the point;
- there was violence or a credible threat of violence at work;
- safety rules were deliberately ignored in a way that put others at risk;
- confidential information or trade secrets were passed on, which often overlaps with a contractual confidentiality clause carrying its own penalty;
- the employee persistently refused to carry out reasonable instructions after a warning;
- the employee falsified records, hours or expense claims.
What should you do in the first hours?
Do not sign anything, ask for the reason in writing and protest in writing the same day or the next. The first hours decide how strong your position is later, and almost everything that helps you costs nothing.Do not sign anything on the spot. Employers sometimes present a termination by mutual consent, a receipt for company property or a statement of the facts at the moment of dismissal. Signing can turn a contestable summary dismissal into an agreed termination and can damage your benefit position. Say that you want to read it first, and ask for a copy of anything you are shown.Ask for the reason in writing, with the date and time of the dismissal, and send your written protest. It does not have to be long. State that you dispute the dismissal, that you invoke its invalidity, that you remain available to work, and that you claim continued payment of wages. Send it by email and keep the sent copy. That letter is not a formality: it fixes your position, it shows you did not accept the dismissal, and it is the first document a court will read.Write down the timeline while it is fresh: when the alleged incident happened, when the employer must have learned of it, who was present, when you were called in, what was said and by whom, and when the dismissal was given. Secure the evidence you legitimately have: save emails, messages, rosters, appraisals and payslips that are already yours, and note the names of witnesses. Do not take confidential company data unrelated to your case, as that can give the employer a second urgent reason.Then deal with your income. Wages stop immediately, and unemployment benefit is normally refused after a summary dismissal. Apply to the UWV anyway and take legal advice quickly. The two-month period for going to court runs from the date of dismissal, and it is the one deadline in this area that cannot be repaired.What is the two-month deadline, and what can you ask the court?
You have two months from the day of the summary dismissal to file an application with the sub-district court. You can ask for annulment of the dismissal or, alternatively, for compensation.The two-month period is a time bar. It does not stop while you negotiate, it is not extended because the employer promised to reconsider, and once it has expired the dismissal stands, however defective it was. File first and negotiate afterwards. Filing does not prevent a settlement, and a pending case often makes a reasonable settlement more likely.The application goes to the sub-district court for the place where you normally work or where you live. It sets out the facts, the timeline and the evidence, and asks the court to test the dismissal against the statutory requirements. You then have a real choice between two outcomes.Annulment: the contract continues
If the court annuls the dismissal, the contract never ended. The employment continues, and the employer owes wages from the date of dismissal onwards, with the statutory increase for late payment where appropriate. Annulment is the right request if you want your job back, or if you want the wage claim to keep running while the parties look for a solution.Compensation: the contract has ended
Where returning is not realistic, you can accept that the contract has ended and ask the court for fair compensation (billijke vergoeding). You can combine this with compensation for the notice period the employer did not observe, based on the wage you would have earned during that period. In the same application you can claim the transition payment and the outstanding items of the final settlement.Whichever you choose, ask in the alternative. An application that asks for annulment and, if that is refused, for compensation, keeps both routes open and costs nothing extra. Bring the employment contract, the collective agreement (cao) if one applies, the dismissal letter, your written protest, the timeline, recent payslips and the evidence you have gathered. The strength of the file usually matters more than the length of the argument.What can you still claim in wages, final settlement and transition payment?
Everything you had already earned up to the moment of dismissal remains due, whatever happens to the dismissal itself. Whether the transition payment is due depends on whether your conduct was seriously culpable, which is a separate test.A correct final settlement covers the gross salary up to the date and time of termination, payment of accrued but untaken statutory and contractual holidays, the accrued holiday allowance, including the allowance over the paid-out leave, and any bonus, commission, allowance or expense reimbursement you had already earned. Ask for it in writing and itemised, and check the leave balance against your own records. Mistakes in these calculations happen, and they are easier to correct before the relationship breaks down completely.The transition payment is more nuanced than employers tend to present it. As a rule it is due whenever the employer terminates the contract or does not renew it, and it builds up from the first day of employment, so even a short contract creates an entitlement. The exception is that no transition payment is due where the ending of the contract results from seriously culpable conduct by the employee.An urgent reason and seriously culpable conduct are not the same test, although in practice they often overlap. The court can still award the payment in whole or in part where withholding it would be unreasonable. A dismissal that is upheld therefore does not automatically cancel the entitlement, and it is worth claiming in the alternative.The maximum amount of the transition payment is adjusted every year and published by the government, so check the figure for the year in which your contract ends rather than relying on an older article. One further point catches people out: if your employer is declared bankrupt, there is no claim to a transition payment, and the UWV wage guarantee scheme does not cover it.Do you get unemployment benefit after a summary dismissal?
Normally not, if the dismissal is valid. Under the Unemployment Insurance Act (WW), benefit is refused where you are culpably unemployed, and conduct that justifies immediate dismissal is the classic example. The UWV assesses this itself, on the file, and does not simply follow the employer’s letter.Two things follow. First, apply anyway, and apply promptly. The UWV decides on eligibility, and an application that is never made cannot be reconsidered later. Explain in the application that you dispute the dismissal, that you have protested in writing and that proceedings are pending or being prepared.Second, keep the legal route open, because your benefit position follows your legal position. If the court annuls the dismissal, the ground for refusal disappears. If the parties settle and record the ending of the contract on a neutral basis, without an urgent reason and with the notice period observed, benefit normally becomes available. The wording of a settlement agreement is therefore not a detail: it decides whether you have an income after your last working day.While you receive benefit, the ordinary obligations apply: stay available for work, apply for jobs and report your applications, report any income from work, and pass on changes on time. You may work alongside the benefit, with your earnings deducted from it under the statutory formula. If you want to look for work in another EU or EEA country, you can in some cases take the benefit with you for a limited period with a PD U2 document. The UWV must give permission in advance, and you must register with the employment service in the other country within seven days of leaving.What if you have already signed something?
You can usually withdraw your signature within fourteen days, without giving a reason. Employers sometimes follow an instant dismissal with a document to sign, either a termination with consent or a settlement agreement. Signing changes the legal character of the ending, and with it the notice period, the transition payment and your benefit position.After signing a settlement agreement you may withdraw your consent in writing within fourteen days. If the agreement does not mention that right, the period is twenty-one days. The same applies to a written consent to the employer’s notice. Send the withdrawal in writing, keep proof that you sent it, and do it well before the deadline rather than on the last day. The right can only be used once within six months, so use it deliberately.Before signing anything, check:- the last working day and whether the notice period has been observed;
- the amount and basis of the severance;
- the treatment of accrued leave and holiday allowance;
- the wording about the reason for the ending;
- any post-contractual restrictions, such as non-competition and confidentiality clauses;
- whether the agreement contains a full and final settlement of all claims.
What changes for probation, fixed-term contracts and agency work?
The three-part test applies to every employment contract, but the rules around it differ.Can you be dismissed on the spot during probation?
During a valid probationary period (proeftijd), either party may end the contract with immediate effect and without a reason, so summary dismissal is rarely needed. A probationary period is only valid if it is agreed in writing, is the same length for both parties, and stays within the statutory maximum. There is no probationary period at all in a fixed-term contract of six months or less, at most one month in a fixed-term contract of more than six months but less than two years, and at most two months in a contract of two years or more or for an indefinite period. A probationary period that exceeds the maximum is void in its entirety, so a dismissal based on it fails as well.The power is not unlimited. Ending the contract for a discriminatory reason, or in a way that abuses the power, remains unlawful, and if you ask for the reason in writing the employer must give it. If you are dismissed during probation, note the exact date, check the contract for the length and validity of the clause, and ask for the reason in writing.What about a fixed-term contract?
A fixed-term contract ends automatically on the agreed end date. Where the contract was entered into for six months or more, the employer must tell you in writing at least one month before the end date whether it will be renewed and on what terms. If it fails to do so, you can claim compensation of up to one month’s salary, calculated pro rata if the notice was late.Ending a fixed-term contract early is only possible if the contract contains an interim termination clause in writing that applies to both parties. Where it does, the ordinary routes apply, so the employer still needs a UWV permit or a court dissolution. Without such a clause, an employer that wants out before the end date has to ask the court to dissolve the contract and may face a claim for the remaining salary.Summary dismissal is possible in a fixed-term contract on exactly the same conditions as in a permanent one. If it fails, the employer may owe the wages for the rest of the term. How this interacts with a condition subsequent (ontbindende voorwaarde) in the contract is a separate question and depends on whether the condition can be objectively established.What about agency work?
In agency work your contract is with the agency, not with the hirer, and the hirer sending you away is not a dismissal. Whether your contract ends with the assignment depends on the agency clause (uitzendbeding). During the first twenty-six weeks of work, a period that a collective agreement can extend, the contract may say that it ends when the hirer ends the assignment. Once that clause no longer applies, or if it was never agreed, the contract continues and can only be ended through the ordinary routes. Collective agreements in the sector add further protection, including a notice period for the worker once the placement has lasted a certain time, and rules on pay during sickness.The sector is also being brought under a new admission (licensing) regime for providers of labour, the Act on admission of providers of labour (Wet toelating terbeschikkingstelling arbeidskrachten). Check with the agency whether it is registered or admitted under that regime. If your contract ends while you are ill, you may be entitled to sickness benefit under the Ziektewet through the UWV.Does illness or pregnancy protect you against summary dismissal?
Not in itself. The statutory prohibitions on notice (opzegverboden) do not apply to a summary dismissal for an urgent reason, but illness or pregnancy does weigh in the court’s assessment.Dutch law protects employees against notice in a number of defined situations. The most important are the first two years of incapacity for work, pregnancy and maternity leave and a short period after returning from it, membership of the works council, and trade union activity. There are further prohibitions connected to discrimination and to the transfer of an undertaking.This point is often misunderstood. Article 7:670a of the Civil Code provides that these prohibitions do not apply where the termination is a summary dismissal for an urgent reason. Being ill or pregnant therefore does not, by itself, make an instant dismissal invalid. It does change the weighing. The court will look critically at whether the conduct was connected to the illness, whether the employer used the urgent reason to get around a prohibition it could not otherwise overcome, and what the dismissal means for someone in that position. An employer that dismisses an employee who is ill on a thin urgent reason, shortly after a dispute about reintegration, will find the court reading the file with that in mind.Where illness itself is the real ground, the position is clear. It cannot be used to terminate during the first two years, and after two years of incapacity dismissal is only possible with a UWV permit. Redundancy for business economic reasons goes the same way. Neither is an urgent reason, and neither can be dealt with by dismissal on the spot.Reporting wrongdoing or unsafe working conditions is protected as well. Raising a health and safety concern, refusing work that is genuinely unsafe, or reporting to the Netherlands Labour Authority cannot lawfully be the reason for ending your contract. The Whistleblowers Protection Act (Wet bescherming klokkenluiders) prohibits any detriment as a result of a report, with the burden of proof reversed in the employee’s favour.Where do employers go wrong?
Most successful challenges do not turn on whether something happened, but on how the employer handled it. The recurring failures are:- a delay between discovery and dismissal that the employer cannot explain;
- a reason stated so generally that the employee cannot tell what the accusation is;
- a letter that reserves the right to add further grounds later;
- a decision taken without hearing the employee, or based on an allegation that was never investigated;
- a collection of minor matters that never led to a warning, presented together as an urgent reason;
- using instant dismissal for a ground that belongs to the UWV or the court;
- failing to weigh the length of service, the previous record and the personal consequences;
- inconsistency, where comparable conduct by colleagues was dealt with by a warning.
How do you build your file?
Make the timeline verifiable and the employer’s version testable. Because the employer carries the burden of proof, your task is narrower than it feels. A good file has three layers.The first layer is the chronology. Note when the alleged incident took place, when and how the employer learned of it, when you were suspended or called in, what was said in that conversation and who was present, and the exact date and time of the dismissal. Support each step with something dated: a calendar invitation, a message, an access record, a roster.The second layer is the documents that define the relationship: the employment contract and any addenda, the applicable collective agreement, the staff handbook or company rules, previous appraisals and any warnings you received, and the payslips and leave overviews you need for the money claims. If the employer relies on a rule, whether that rule was ever communicated to you is often decisive.The third layer is the evidence about the incident itself: correspondence, photographs, logs, safety reports, written instructions, and the names and roles of witnesses with a short note of what each of them saw. Keep originals, work from copies, and store everything outside company systems you may lose access to. Do not remove confidential material that has nothing to do with your case.Finish with a short factual statement of a page or two that links the timeline to the evidence. Your lawyer will build the application around it, and writing it usually shows you where the gaps are while there is still time to close them.What can the court decide?
There are three realistic outcomes: annulment, compensation, or upholding the dismissal. Settlements tend to cluster around them.If the court annuls the dismissal, the contract is treated as never having ended. Wages are payable from the dismissal date, holiday continues to build up, and the final settlement has to be corrected. In practice the parties often then negotiate an exit. An employer that has just been ordered to pay several months of back pay has a strong incentive to settle, and returning to the workplace is often not realistic. If the employer still wants to end the contract, it has to use the ordinary route, with the notice period and transition payment that go with it.If the court finds the dismissal defective and you have asked for money rather than reinstatement, it can award fair compensation, the fixed compensation for the notice period that was not observed, and the transition payment. Fair compensation depends on the circumstances, including how serious the employer’s failure was and the income you have lost or can expect to lose. It is not calculated with a formula.If the court upholds the dismissal, the contract ended on the day it was given. Wages stop as of that date, unemployment benefit is normally refused, and the transition payment is usually not due. You can still ask the court to award it if the conduct, although an urgent reason, was not seriously culpable. In that scenario the employer may in turn claim fixed compensation from you, because the contract ended through your culpable conduct. That is one more reason to test the case carefully before it reaches a hearing.Should you negotiate an exit instead of litigating?
Often it makes sense to do both: file within the deadline and negotiate while the case is pending. Litigation restores income and sometimes the job, but it takes months and the outcome is never certain.A negotiated ending is worth considering where you want certainty quickly, where the employer’s case has visible weaknesses that make it willing to pay, or where the relationship is beyond repair and only the terms are in dispute. The way to keep leverage is not to choose. Protest in writing, file the application within the two-month period, and negotiate while it is pending. Once a hearing date is set, both sides tend to look at the risks more realistically, and you lose nothing: an application can be withdrawn when a settlement is signed.In the negotiation the wording matters as much as the amount. Agree that the summary dismissal is withdrawn and that the contract ends by mutual consent on a neutral ground, with the notice period observed, so that your benefit position is not damaged. Then settle the severance, payment of accrued leave, holiday allowance and any earned bonus, the treatment of a non-competition or confidentiality clause, the return of company property, a neutral reference, and confidentiality about the terms. Ask for the final settlement in itemised form as part of the agreement rather than afterwards. And remember that the fourteen-day reconsideration right applies to the agreement you sign, so your signature is not quite the last word.What if you are an international employee?
Check your residence permit, your health insurance and your housing straight away. Losing your job overnight has consequences beyond your wage if any of these is linked to the employment.Check your residence permit first. Where the permit was granted for work with a specific employer, as with a highly skilled migrant permit, the employer must notify the IND (Immigration and Naturalisation Service) that the employment has ended, and a search period applies during which you may look for a new employer to act as sponsor. Where the permit depends on the work continuing, losing the job can put your right of residence at risk, so take advice before the situation drifts. Also check the current IND processing times and the remedies for a late decision before you rely on them.Health insurance under an employer’s collective policy usually ends with the employment, but the legal duty to be insured does not. Arrange cover immediately rather than after the dispute is resolved. If your accommodation was arranged through your employer or a temporary work agency, check what the housing agreement says about the period you have to leave. Since 1 July 2023 the Good Landlordship Act (Wet goed verhuurderschap) contains additional rules where accommodation is let to labour migrants, including the requirement that the rental agreement be kept separate from the employment contract. Finally, if you plan to look for work in another member state while receiving benefit, arrange the PD U2 document with the UWV in advance.What should you bring to a first consultation?
Bring everything that shows what was agreed, what happened and when. That means:- the employment contract with any addenda, the collective agreement if one applies, and the company rules;
- the dismissal letter or email and your notes of the meeting at which the dismissal was given;
- any suspension letter;
- the written protest you sent, with the time stamp;
- your timeline;
- recent payslips and the leave and holiday allowance overviews;
- any draft agreement you have been asked to sign;
- where relevant, sickness notifications, pregnancy or maternity documents and correspondence with the UWV.
In summary
- A summary dismissal is only valid if there is an urgent reason (articles 7:677 and 7:678 Civil Code), the employer acted without delay, and the reason was stated to you immediately and precisely. The employer must prove all three.
- Do not sign anything on the spot, ask for the reason in writing, and send a written protest the same day or the next.
- You have two months from the dismissal date to go to the sub-district court. This time bar does not stop while you negotiate.
- Ask for annulment and, in the alternative, for fair compensation, notice-period compensation and the transition payment.
- Apply for unemployment benefit anyway; a neutral settlement or an annulment can restore your benefit position.
Frequently asked questions
What counts as a valid ‘urgent reason’ for summary dismissal in the Netherlands?
The conduct must be so serious that the employer cannot reasonably be expected to continue the employment even one more day. Typical examples include theft, endangering others, disclosing trade secrets or persistently refusing to work. The court also weighs your personal circumstances, such as your length of service and the consequences of the dismissal for you.
How quickly must an employer act after discovering the alleged misconduct?
The employer must act without delay once it learns of the alleged misconduct. A short, necessary investigation is acceptable. If the employer waits too long after discovery, the court may conclude that the situation was not truly urgent and that the dismissal fails for that reason alone.
How long do I have to challenge a summary dismissal in court?
You have two months from the date of the summary dismissal to file an application with the sub-district court. This deadline is strict: if you miss it, you generally lose the option to contest the dismissal. Do not wait for informal negotiations to finish before filing.
Am I entitled to unemployment benefits (WW) after being fired on the spot?
Usually not immediately. The UWV generally treats a valid summary dismissal as culpable unemployment and refuses WW benefit. If the dismissal is later annulled by the court, or the contract ends on a neutral basis, for example through a court dissolution or a neutral settlement agreement, WW benefit can become available again.
What should I do immediately after being fired on the spot?
Ask for the written reason for the dismissal right away and keep any documents you receive, since the employer must prove the urgent reason and vague or changing explanations weaken its case. Send a written protest, and gather your contract, the dismissal letter, a timeline of events, payslips and other supporting evidence in case you decide to challenge the dismissal.
Unsure where you stand? Tell us about your situation. We will let you know your options within one working day.
How Law & More can help you with this is explained on our dismissal lawyer page.
