What are your rights in the event of a burnout in the Netherlands? Read and ask for free advice
Burnout dismissal - is dismissal for burnout possible? How about a Severance pay?
If you become 'burnout' it is an unpleasant situation. You feel 'burnt out' and can no longer cope with your work.
It becomes even more unpleasant if your employer does not accept your burnout and insists on terminating your employment contract or dismissing you. What are your rights? More about that below.
Burnout and illness
If your burnout symptoms are so severe that you can no longer perform your own work, you are unfit for work, or sick.
In principle, you cannot be fired if you are sick. This means that your employer cannot legally terminate your employment while you are still ill. However, there are the following exceptions to this principle.
Dismissal after two years of illness
The protection against dismissal during illness is not unlimited, but applies during the first two years of a continuous period of illness. A period of illness is also considered continuous if you fall ill again within four weeks of returning to work. At the end of said two-year period, the employer can terminate the employment contract. To legally terminate the contract, the employer needs permission or a termination permit from the UWV. The UWV will only grant this permit if all of the following conditions are met:
- You can no longer perform your job due to the illness;
- You are not expected to be able to return to work within 26 weeks (even in the case of additional training);
- You and your employer have made sufficient reintegration efforts, but to no avail.
As an employee, you are obliged to cooperate sufficiently during the period of illness with reasonable efforts by your employer to get you back to work. This may include, for example, accepting offered training or accepting other suitable work within the company.
Other exceptions to dismissal protection during illness
We have discussed above the legal protection against dismissal of the employee in case the employer wants to terminate the employment contract after obtaining permission from the UWV. Does the employee also enjoy this protection during illness if the employer wants to terminate the employment contract in another way?
In the event of summary dismissal, this protection does not apply. Nor does that protection apply if a fixed-term contract is not renewed, but ends on the agreed date. This means that the contract can end even if you are sick.
If the employer submits a request to the subdistrict court to terminate the employment of a sick employee, the subdistrict court will be very cautious. This means that the employer's request will only be granted if special circumstances arise.
Dismissal (protection) during illness, regardless of the reason for dismissal, should be distinguished from dismissal due to illness. The latter means that incapacity for work is cited as the reason for dismissal.
However, incapacity for work is not in itself a ground for dismissal.
For this reason, the employer will not receive permission from the UWV or subdistrict court - barring exceptions - to dismiss the employee.
Financial compensation for burnout and settlement agreement
In some cases, the employer has increased the workload so unreasonably high and prolonged that he can be held liable for damages resulting from the burnout situation. Such compensation may be obtainable in the form of extra-high severance pay in dismissal situations or through separate damages proceedings.
Termination of employment contract in case of burnout ( burnout settlement agreement )
It frequently happens that an employer makes a proposal to the employee to terminate the employment contract. In some cases, the burnout-affected employee, or the employee just recovered from burnout, does not take a negative view of termination of the employment relationship. After all, "breaking up" can prevent or resolve burnout. However, it is not wise to simply agree to a proposal from your employer. Always have our lawyers/advocates test the proposal - often made in a settlement agreement - first for ww safety, the amount of severance pay or other pitfalls. We offer you that test for FREE.
In summary: dismissal for burnout is often difficult to achieve; the employee enjoys dismissal protection when ill. There are some important exceptions to this principle.
In some cases it can also be beneficial for the employee to terminate the employment contract during burnout with a proper dismissal arrangement. We can help you with this.
More information and legal assistance:
Are you dealing with dismissal during burnout? Then ask our specialists for advice or legal assistance. We have a lot of experience ( more than 25 years! ) with this subject. Call 0900 - 123 73 24 or mail us. The first advice is for FREE.
Get the most out of your agreement and contact us today.
we can answer your questions about dismissal and the settlement agreement;
we can screen your settlement agreement for unemployment benefit safety, irregularities, pitfalls, the severance payment, etc.;
we can advise you on ‘what to do?’
we can negotiate with your employer for a better severance arrangement;
we can — if you wish — try to prevent your dismissal.
In any case, with our help you avoid costly mistakes and achieve the best possible result!
Take action now:
Call 0900 - 123 73 24 or email us. The first advice is FREE
Example of a settlement agreement
Order the editable sample settlement agreement below.
Sample employee letter
Your employer wants to terminate your employment contract and offers you a settlement agreement in this regard. What is a wise response to that offer? We have prepared a sample letter for your initial response. Using the sample letter, you remain available for work and thus retain your right to wages. You also request time to respond to the employer's dismissal proposal and to seek advice.
Order the sample letter below.
