Notice of termination

In principle the law seems very univocal as of 1 January 2015 with respect to the notice of termination of a fixed-term contract: an employer has to notify the employee on a possible renewal at least one month prior to the end date of the fixed-term contract. When he does not give any notification or when he is too late, he can owe a fine to the employee. This seems easy enough but it is not. There has been many case law concerning this notice.

The facts

Moreover, the district court of Apeldoorn has given new insights by ruling in a case on the 8th of October 2015. The case concerned an employee who entered into service for six months. The contract was renewed with an additional six months until the 30th of June 2015. At the end of May the employer discusses a possible renewal with the employee and sends a written proposal. Both parties discussed the conditions again after a few weeks, but the employee found the dialogue too heavy and leaves emotionally.

Termination of employment?

The first legal problem dealt with the question whether the employee had ended his employment or whether it was renewed. The employee stated that he accepted the offer to renew his contract during the renewal dialogue, which would effectively have led to renewal. The employee wanted continuation of his salary, but also a fine related to the notice of termination.

The employer did not agree and argued that the employee had ended his employment, because he left the discussion after receiving the written proposal without any verbal consent to the agreement. There would therefore not be any ground for the fine.

Employment is renewed

The district court ruled that the employment contract was renewed. When an employee gets emotional, the employer has to take extra care with statements of that employee. He has to make sure, clearly and unequivocal, that he had the intent to terminate his employment. When this is not the case, the employer can assume that this was not the intention of the employee and therefore the employment contract will be renewed automatically.

Renewal, but still a fine

The following recital of the district court is notable, because he decided that, renewal or not, the employer did not comply to the requirements of a notice of termination in any event. Although there was a discourse at the end of May, this should have been recorded in writing before the 1st of June. This can be derived directly from the law. The employee in any event has right to the fine.

Tips

This judgment shows us two important lessons:
Firstly, as employer keep a strict record of terminations of fixed-term contract and plan your dialogues and written proposals well in advance. Have a timely discourse with the employee about the renewal and write this down. This will prevent unnecessary costs and expensive procedures. When you have questions with regards to the notice of termination or renewal of employment contracts, please contact our attorney mr. Suzanne van Dijsseldonk.