Restructuring and dismissal: selection, redeployment and your response

Restructuring and dismissal: selection, redeployment and your response

Restructuring can eliminate jobs, but does not give an employer free choice over who leaves. In dismissal for business reasons, the need, selection and redeployment must be substantiated. Your first step is to understand which position is disappearing and why you are being selected. You can then ask focused questions and decide whether a defence, redeployment or agreement is appropriate.

Ask about both the elimination of jobs and the selection of employees.

The reflection principle is not an unrestricted assessment of who performs best.

A social plan does not automatically replace dismissal scrutiny or checks on your individual terms.

1. What exactly is changing in the business?

Business reasons can include less work, financial difficulties, relocation, technological change or partial closure. The employer must explain why jobs are disappearing and how many. Ask for the old and new organisational structures, timetable and consequences for your role. Saying only that savings are needed does not explain why your position is being eliminated.

If the same work continues under another title, that is relevant. Compare tasks, responsibilities, level and requirements rather than job names alone. A new role may genuinely differ, but a new title does not automatically make selection unrestricted. Keep your job description and specific examples of the work you did before restructuring.

2. Which employees are eligible for dismissal?

For interchangeable roles, the reflection principle (afspiegelingsbeginsel) may determine dismissal order. Groups of employees and age groups are considered under the applicable rules. The employer must explain the chosen establishment, role group and reference date. Ask which data were used for you, including your start date and any earlier periods with successive employers.

Not every department constitutes one interchangeable role group, and not every difference in tasks makes roles incomparable. Flexible working arrangements and statutory exceptions may also affect the order. If in doubt, ask for the selection to be substantiated. An employer relying only on your latest appraisal may be using a different criterion from the required business-reasons selection.

3. Investigate redeployment seriously

The employer generally must investigate whether you can be redeployed within a reasonable period to another suitable position, with training if needed. Ask which vacancies and other possibilities were examined and why you are or are not eligible. Within a group of companies, possibilities may extend beyond one team; the actual organisational and legal situation matters.

Make your possibilities visible: experience, skills, willingness to train and any limits on travel or hours. A lower-level job or another location requires careful assessment, not an automatic yes or no. Request offers in writing so tasks, pay and start date are clear. If you consider work unsuitable, respond in writing and explain why.

Example: your old role disappears and a similar vacancy appears

Your planner role is eliminated, and a week later the employer seeks a coordinator with largely the same tasks. Keep the vacancy and ask why it is not interchangeable or suitable work. The new title alone does not answer that question.

4. UWV, a collective-agreement committee and employee representation

If you do not consent, redundancy dismissal normally proceeds through UWV. A valid collective agreement may designate an independent dismissal committee. With a UWV application, you receive documents and an opportunity to respond. The letter gives your deadline; do not wait for internal discussions before monitoring it. Address each specific point with a reference to the relevant appendix.

The works council may have consultation rights concerning restructuring. Trade unions may be involved in a social plan and collective redundancies. Their role matters but does not replace your individual response. Ask what has already been decided and what information is available. Agreement on an organisational structure does not automatically settle your selection, compensation and contract end.

5. A social plan and an individual offer

A social plan may provide guidance, departure compensation, redeployment, training and hardship arrangements. Check whether you fall within its scope and which conditions and application deadlines apply. Some advantages depend on timely agreement or participation in a programme. Ask what happens if you want the dismissal reviewed instead of immediately signing a VSO.

Assess an individual VSO separately for end date, pay, WW, annual leave, restrictions and full and final settlement. Compare the agreed compensation with the statutory transition payment and social plan. Compare like with like: compensation including existing pay rights is different from an extra amount on top. The employer cannot give a binding WW guarantee.

6. After permission and dismissal

UWV permission does not itself end the contract; the employer must subsequently give valid notice using the applicable period. Check the end date and permitted deduction of procedural time. If you dispute termination, an application to the subdistrict court may be needed. Short expiry periods apply, generally two months after employment ends to challenge dismissal. If employment is restored and the employer must pay back wages, previously received WW may need repayment. Notify UWV of the judgment and payment and align the periods; do not assume wages and WW for the same period are both final income.

Check final accounts and apply for WW on time if you may meet the conditions. If a vacancy arises within 26 weeks for the work you performed, a re-employment obligation may be relevant. Keep vacancies and seek advice on the precise conditions. There may therefore be reasons to follow developments after departure, without drawing conclusions from one new vacancy alone.

Request the old and new organisational structures and job description.

Check the role group, reference date and selection data.

Record suitable vacancies and your responses.

Read the social plan alongside the individual VSO.

Monitor response deadlines, contract end and any court deadline.

Can my employer dismiss only the most expensive employees?

Business reasons and dismissal order must be justified under the applicable rules. A preference for lower salaries does not automatically make selection valid. Ask how interchangeable roles and the order were established.

Must I accept a lower-level job?

It depends on suitability, terms and circumstances. Ask for a specific offer and have the consequences assessed. An unexplained refusal may affect the redeployment discussion, but not every lower-level offer is automatically suitable.

Is dismissal certain if the works council advises positively?

No. Advice about restructuring and your individual dismissal are separate matters. The employer must also substantiate necessity, selection and redeployment in your case and follow the correct procedure.

Can I negotiate while submitting a defence?

Yes, but monitor both tracks. Settlement discussions do not automatically stop a UWV response period or court expiry period. Record which procedure continues and who monitors deadlines.

Sources and editorial notes
Sources current as of: October 17, 2026
1. UWV: dismissal for business reasons
Publisher: UWV
https://www.uwv.nl/nl/ontslag/ontslag-bedrijfseconomische-redenen
2. Dutch government: reflection principle for redundancy selection
Publisher: Rijksoverheid
https://www.rijksoverheid.nl/themas/werk/ontslag/afspiegelingsbeginsel
3. SER: restructuring and employee representation
Publisher: Sociaal-Economische Raad (SER)
https://www.ser.nl/nl/thema/medezeggenschap/belangrijke-themas/reorganisatie
4. Dutch judiciary: employee dismissal procedure
Publisher: Rechtspraak
https://www.rechtspraak.nl/onderwerpen/ontslag/verzoekschriftprocedure-werknemer
The source publications are in Dutch. All language editions cover Dutch law.