UWV refuses dismissal permit twice

My client had been employed by a bronze foundry for over forty years. Due to the recession, his employer reluctantly applied to the Dutch Administrative Office for Employed Persons’ Insurance Schemes (Uitvoeringsinstelling werknemersverzekeringen or UWV) for a permit to dismiss my client due to business economic reasons.

I successfully put forward a defence to the dismissal application on my client’s behalf. The employer had several employees, but my client received the highest salary and this was the reason that the employer wished to terminate his employment contract. However, the employer had not demonstrated that it had applied the ‘age bracket’ principle correctly or that my client was eligible for dismissal.

The UWV agreed with me and refused permission to terminate my client’s employment contract.

Unfortunately, this did not dissuade the employer from trying again. Several weeks later, it submitted a second application for dismissal due to business economic reasons. Even though the facts and circumstances remained exactly the same and I immediately put forward objections to this effect, the UWV accepted the application for processing.

I again produced a detailed defence to the dismissal application on my client’s behalf, as the ‘age bracket’ principle had not been applied correctly and according to the rules my client was not eligible for dismissal. My client had been in employment with that employer for longer than the other employees and all the positions within the company were interchangeable, a fact which the employer did not dispute. Nor was the employer able to demonstrate that his other employees were indispensable.

Once again the UWV agreed with my view of the matter, so the dismissal permit was refused for the second time. To this day, my client is still working for the same employer and deriving great pleasure from his work.