Dismissal after two years of illness: why a €1.5 million claim failed

What happened before the request for compensation?

According to the decision of the Rotterdam District Court, the employee started employment in May 2016 and reported sick in March 2022. The employer terminated the employment contract with effect from May 1, 2025 after permission from UWV due to long-term disability. The employee then asked for fair compensation and made additional requests.

The judge therefore not only dealt with the question of whether the employee was ill. The central issue was whether the accusations made against the employer met the high threshold of seriously culpable actions or omissions. The judge examined, among other things, a complaint about the manager, an investigation into that complaint, the guidance during illness and the documents about the medical history. The request was denied; The parties each had to bear their own legal costs.

When can termination of the employment contract be appropriate after a long-term illness?

Two years of illness do not automatically end an employment contract. The statutory dismissal requirements must be met, including examination of the prohibition on dismissal, the prospect of recovery and suitable alternative work. Exceptions, including a possible extension of the prohibition on dismissal, require an individual check. UWV — Dismissal due to long-term incapacity explains the application, including the prospect of returning to work within 26 weeks, with adjustments where appropriate.

The specific situation may differ, for example because the termination ban has not yet expired or because the assessment of the reintegration has consequences for the process. The UWV decision and the subsequent termination are therefore important documents. Our explanation of termination of the employment contract due to illness helps to distinguish this route from a termination agreement or a termination of the employment contract for a personal reason.

Why is fair compensation a separate question?

A fair compensation is not an automatic allowance for any termination of the employment contract after illness. The legal basis and substantiation of the alleged actions must fit the chosen route. In the case discussed, the subdistrict court judge found the facts presented, also in context, insufficient to establish serious culpability.

This distinction prevents a common fallacy: a large loss of income does not automatically make the accusation stronger. First it must be clear which specific obligation has been violated and why this is sufficiently important. Only then will the budget for any compensation be discussed. Have an advisor assess both components separately instead of just drawing up a calculation up to retirement age.

What was missing, according to the judge, in the complaints about the manager?

The employee stated, among other things, that she had worked in an unsafe working environment and had experienced undesirable behavior. The judge found that the employer had dealt with her complaint expeditiously and seriously. External research had been carried out, among other things; According to the decision, concrete examples that sufficiently supported the accusations were also missing from the procedure.

The lesson is not that a report of bullying is without value. It is about the difference between describing an experience and making a legal accusation verifiable. Record events, dates, attendees and the response to your report. Save a research assignment, report and any concrete objections to it. A general objection to an investigation is less precise than explaining which event was not investigated or which conclusion is not supported by the documents.

How did the judge view the cause of illness and reintegration?

The documents showed that health problems already existed before this employment relationship. According to the judge, the opinions did not provide sufficient support for the conclusion that the alleged employer's actions were the cause of the long-term disability that led to the termination of the employment contract. The employer had also responded to the reintegration accusations with documents, which, according to the judge, did not provide sufficient concrete substantiation.

Previous complaints do not mean that an employer no longer owes due care afterwards. They do make visible why the timeline and the question of which event had which consequences must be examined separately. Avoid making your own medical conclusions about cause and recovery. Describe what you observe, submit relevant questions to the company doctor and have the legal significance of that information specifically assessed.

Why was a letter from the pension fund not decisive?

The file mentioned a letter from ABP in which an occupational disease was considered plausible in the context of increased non-contributory pension accrual. The judge did not conclude from this that this employer had acted in a seriously culpable manner. Previous employment history with another employer also played a role. The letter therefore had a specific background and did not automatically answer the legal question in these dismissal proceedings.

For each report, check the purpose for which it was prepared, which period was examined and which question the author answered. A benefit decision, pension assessment, medical advice and judicial opinion are not interchangeable. Take the complete letter with you to an advisor, including caveats. Copying only the favorable-sounding sentence can distort the meaning of the document.

What do medical privacy and an announced salary suspension mean?

The judge also stated that the employer was not automatically aware of the specific medical situation. Medical information may be held by the company doctor without the manager fully knowing it. In the circumstances of this case, the judge found the announced salary suspension understandable after the lack of response to calls, when it was not yet clear that the employee could not cooperate.

This does not imply general permission to stop wages as soon as contact becomes difficult. A wage suspension and a wage freeze differ and require their own basis and assessment. Read wage freeze and wage suspension and respond to a specific warning. If medical restrictions make contact difficult, ask the company doctor for workable communication agreements, instead of just leaving the problem undiscussed.

How do you make your own file stronger without selecting facts?

Make a small overview for each accusation: date, obligation or agreement, actual event, available evidence and the employer's response. An UWV expert opinion can be useful for certain reintegration questions. The question must match what UWV can assess; an expert opinion does not independently award fair compensation.

Also include unfavorable parts. If an employer offered a second investigation or suitable employment, an advisor must be able to see how you responded and why. This makes an assessment more reliable than a file containing only complaints. Save the original messages and attachments so that quotes can be read in context. Do not distribute medical data more widely than necessary for the targeted treatment of your case.

Example: same outburst, but different evidentiary position

Illustrative example: an employee says that reintegration advice was never implemented. However, the employer shows an offer with adjusted hours. The discussion then shifts to the content of that offer: were the tasks really suitable, was there guidance and what was the employee's motivated response? Without the original documents, it remains only contradictory descriptions.

In another fictitious file, several messages confirm that recommended tasks were not made available for months. Even then, compensation is not fixed, but an advisor can assess the alleged shortcoming in more concrete terms. The difference lies in the facts and the legal context. You cannot apply an outcome from a newspaper headline to yourself without those intermediate steps.

Which next step suits your phase of termination of the employment contract?

With a pending application, you can raise other work, recovery expectations or missing information. After cancellation, other requests and short periods may apply. Case law - termination of the employment contract and proceedings before the subdistrict court provides information about the procedure. Ask immediately which term applies to your desired request; a regular protest email does not automatically monitor this.

Use the dismissal step-by-step plan to determine your goal: retention of the contract, a settlement, salary or compensation. Also keep the transition compensation and final settlement separately in view. The rejection in this case says something about these requests and this evidence. It is not a general judicial decision that illness can never be related to employer actions or that every subsequent request must fail.

Practical checklist

• Save the UWV decision, termination and date on which the contract ends.
• Split the complaint about employer actions and the calculation of financial consequences.
• Create a timeline for each accusation with concrete events and original attachments.
• Determine the purpose of a medical, occupational or pension report.
• Please have the appropriate requests and timeframes reviewed before waiting for further correspondence.