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Notification obligation for employers

The employer must announce the end of a temporary contract in advance

Do I have to announce the end of the employment contract?

4 minuten mr. Jeroen Kaspers Employment Law for Employers Tuesday 06 June 2023 2025

Although a fixed-term employment contract ends by operation of law, the employer is subject to a notification obligation. This means that the employer must indicate, one (1) month before the end of the employment, whether the contract will be continued or not. The legislator has stipulated that the employer must do this in writing.

The notification obligation for employers applies to a temporary contract that has lasted 6 months or longer. At the latest one month before the employment ends, the employer must inform the employee in writing whether the contract will be terminated or extended and, if so, under what conditions. If this does not happen (or not on time), the employer owes the employee a notification compensation. Note that the notification obligation does not apply if a temporary employment contract is entered into for 6 months or longer without a specific duration agreed upon in advance (e.g., an employment contract for a specific project or for the temporary replacement of another employee).

Conditions of the notification period

If the contract is continued, the employer must specify the conditions under which this will occur. The employer must notify the employee of this at least one (1) month before the contract ends. If the employer indicates in writing at the start of the employment contract that there will be no subsequent contract, this also fulfills the notification obligation.

The notification period can also be included in the employment contract in advance.

Notification period not specified: compensation

If the employer fails to indicate (or does so too late) whether the employment contract will be continued or not, the employer owes a notification compensation of (up to) 1 gross monthly salary. If the employer complies with the notification obligation but notifies the employee too late (i.e., less than one (1) month before the end), the employer owes a proportional compensation. For example, if the employer is one week late, this means a compensation equivalent to one week’s salary.

This compensation is not owed in the case of:

  • bankruptcy;
  • deferment of payment;
  • application of the debt restructuring scheme for natural persons.
mr. J.A. Kaspers

mr. J.A. (Jeroen) Kaspers

Jurist en Mediator

Jeroen adviseert en procedeert op het gebied van Employment Law, Contract Law en Tenancy Law. Als mediator begeleidt Jeroen bij conflict of echtscheiding. Volg Jeroen ook op LinkedIn. Bereikbaar via kaspers@wolderwijd-juristen.nl of 036 522 7007.

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