Resolutive Condition in a Dutch Employment Contract

A resolutive condition (ontbindende voorwaarde) in an employment contract is a clause under which the contract ends automatically when a defined future event occurs. There is no notice, no dismissal permit from the UWV and no application to the court. Because such a clause bypasses the Dutch dismissal system entirely, the courts accept it only within narrow limits.

The key caveat: if the clause does not meet those limits, it has no effect and the contract continues. This article explains when a resolutive condition is valid, when the contract ends, what that means for a transition payment (transitievergoeding), and what employers and employees should do in practice.

What is a resolutive condition?

It is a clause that makes the contract end when a future, uncertain event happens. Dutch civil law treats a condition as an agreement that depends on a future event of which it is uncertain whether it will occur (article 6:21 of the Dutch Civil Code, BW).

The uncertainty matters. If it is certain from the outset that the event will happen, the clause is not really a condition. In that case, the contract is in substance a fixed-term contract, and the rules for fixed-term contracts apply.

When is a resolutive condition valid?

A resolutive condition is valid only if it meets three requirements developed in Dutch case law. The event must be objectively determinable, the clause must not undermine dismissal protection, and the employer must not be able to influence the event.

The event must be objectively determinable

Whether the event has occurred must not depend on the will or the judgment of the employer. An outsider must be able to establish from the facts that the condition has been fulfilled.

The clause must not undermine dismissal law

Dutch dismissal law is a closed system with strong protection for employees. A clause that in substance gives the employer a free hand to end the contract will not be upheld. The same applies to a clause that would let the employer get around the statutory prohibitions on dismissal, for example during illness or pregnancy.

The employer must not control the event

The employer must not itself have brought about the event, or have been able to prevent it. If the employer could steer the outcome, the condition is in effect a disguised dismissal.

Which conditions are usually accepted?

Conditions that are accepted tend to involve an external requirement the employee must satisfy. Conditions about performance or the working relationship almost never survive.

Examples of conditions that can be valid:

the loss of a licence, permit or certification that the law requires for the work;
the failure to obtain a qualification that the role demands;
the withdrawal of a permission from a public authority that is needed to do the job.

Conditions expressed in terms of performance, cooperation or the relationship between the parties turn on the employer’s own assessment. For that reason, they rarely hold up in court.

When exactly does the contract end?

The contract ends by operation of law at the moment the condition is fulfilled. No notice period applies, and there is no notice of non-renewal (aanzegging), because that obligation concerns fixed-term contracts that end on an agreed date.

This automatic ending is precisely why disputes arise. If the condition turns out to be invalid, the contract never ended. The employee is then still employed and can claim wages over the whole intervening period. For the employer, that liability builds up quietly, month after month.

Is a transition payment due?

That is not settled. The law does not expressly deal with resolutive conditions, and the lower courts have reached different outcomes.

In a case decided on 11 April 2018, the subdistrict court of the District Court of Midden-Nederland held that no transition payment was due. A security officer’s contract had ended because the police authority withdrew the permission he needed for his work. The employer had no influence on that withdrawal, so it could not be said to have taken the initiative to end the contract (ECLI:NL:RBMNE:2018:3216).

In a case decided on 11 August 2026, the subdistrict court of the District Court of Noord-Holland reached the opposite result. A work-and-study contract had ended under a resolutive condition when the student was removed from their training programme. The court still awarded a transition payment, because the employer had chosen to include the clause and had not argued that the employee acted seriously culpably (ECLI:NL:RBNHO:2026:10682).

So whether a transition payment is due depends on the facts and on how the court approaches the question. Do not assume either way without advice.

What should employers do?

Draft the clause around a concrete, externally verifiable event, and check it before relying on it. The test is whether an outsider could establish from objective facts that the condition has been fulfilled, without any input from you.

Describe the event precisely, for example the loss of a specific statutory licence.
State what happens when the event occurs.
Take advice before you invoke the clause, not afterwards.

Where there is real doubt, the safer route is the ordinary one: a settlement agreement (vaststellingsovereenkomst) or an application to the court.

What should employees do?

Check whether the clause meets the requirements, and act quickly. A resolutive condition is not the last word.

If you are told the contract has ended automatically, two questions matter. Does the clause meet the requirements above? And did the event genuinely occur outside the employer’s influence? Short deadlines apply in employment matters, for example for a claim for a transition payment (article 7:686a BW). Waiting can also weaken your position if you want to argue that the contract never ended.

In summary

A resolutive condition ends the employment contract automatically, without notice, UWV permit or court.
It is valid only if the event is objectively determinable, does not undermine dismissal law and is outside the employer’s control.
Conditions based on external requirements, such as a statutory licence, have the best chance of being upheld.
If the condition is invalid, the contract continues and wages remain due.
Whether a transition payment is due is disputed in the case law.

Frequently asked questions

Can a resolutive condition be agreed in a fixed-term contract?

Yes, in both fixed-term and open-ended contracts, subject to the same requirements. In a fixed-term contract it operates alongside, not instead of, the agreed end date.

Is a transition payment due?

Possibly. Courts have decided this both ways. Where the condition is invalid, the contract has not ended at all, and the employee can claim continued wages instead.