News

When does an employer have to make an effort to redeploy an employee?

Article 7:669 BW stipulates that the employer may terminate an employment contract when there are reasonable grounds to do so, and the redeployment of the employee within a reasonable period of time, with or without training, to another suitable job is not possible or does not make sense.

When does redeployment make sense?

In any case, redeployment does not make sense when it is a case of culpable acts or omissions on the part of the employee.

What positions or functions are eligible in relation to redeployment?

In considering whether or not an appropriate position or job is available within the company of the employer, the following positions are taken into consideration:

those for which a vacancy exists or will become available within a reasonable period. The reasonable period corresponds to the legal term of notice (between 1 and 4 months);
those of employees or persons employed on the basis of an agency work employment contract, or of a temporary employment contract or those made available by a third party – other than by a payroll employer -, insofar as no activities of a temporary nature are being done in these functions during no more than 26 weeks. These employees have to give way to an employee whose job has ceased to exist.
Do affiliated companies also have to be involved in the redeployment?
When the employer´s company is part of a group of companies, the suitable functions in the affiliated companies will be part of the redeployment process.

When does one speak of an appropriate function or job?

One speaks of an appropriate function or job when it matches the training, experience and skills of the employee (or for which s/he will be suitable within a reasonable period with the help of training). With a dysfunctioning employee, an appropriate function or job can be at a lower job level

When does the employer have to provide training?

The obligation to provide training is linked to the existence of a vacancy. Training is not obligatory when redeployment is not to be expected.

Always redeploy?

No, the employer is the one who decides who will get the job, but s/he will have to account for the choice. As a matter of principle, an employee is to be given precedence over an external candidate.

Finally

The redeployment efforts expected from an employer have become law since 1 July 2015, and since 1 October 2015 have been included in the policies of the UWV (Employee Insurance Agency). Given this, the commitment has to be taken seriously. Should there have been too few efforts for redeployment on the part of the employer, the requested employment termination will be rejected.