A reorganisation involves a lot of work, especially in the legal field.
Valegis advises both employers and employees on the restructuring of a company, redundancy and dismissal during reorganisations, including redundancy plans (possibly containing a social plan).
Which ‘desk’ do you need to be at?
In the event of a reorganisation within a company, applying to the UWV for dismissal permits is the dismissal route prescribed in the Work and Security Act (WWZ).
Of course, an employment contract can also be terminated by mutual consent. In that case, the parties must agree on the conditions of the dismissal. We are very experienced in advising and negotiating the termination of the employment contract by mutual consent and assisting employer and employee in dismissal procedures.
How is determined who is eligible for dismissal?
The law stipulates that an employer may not select on the basis of quality, but in the selection of who must be dismissed, the so-called reflection principle on the composition of the workforce must be applied. This means that, within a company, categories of interchangeable jobs are divided into age categories and that subsequently, for each age category, the employees who are employed for the shortest amount of time may be dismissed. The aim is to ensure that the age structure of employees in the category of interchangeable jobs remains as similar as possible before and after the reorganisation.
If an employee is incapacitated for work, a prohibition of termination applies and the UWV will, in general, not grant permission to terminate the employment contract of this sick employee. Instead, another employee may be nominated for dismissal.
UWV dismissal procedure
There’s a lot involved in this procedure. A lot of information has to be delivered in a short time and in the right way. Experience shows that for many employers this is an unfathomable and difficult process. For our lawyers in the employment law team it is a daily activity and we will gladly assist you.
We are also happy to assist employees whose position expires in a reorganisation, to assess whether their employer has followed the rules that apply in a UWV dismissal procedure.
