In the Netherlands, it can be difficult to terminate an employment contract. An employee with a permanent contract has a very strong and protected position regarding termination. The MTA allows both parties to derogate from the provisions of the labour law. Furthermore, we are able to mitigate the risk of the MTA, whereas with other offboarding scenarios, the decision on whether an employee can be terminated is at the discretion of the court (after evaluating the procedural requirements) and is often a lengthy process.
Risk: Employee has a statutory right to dissolve the settlement agreement within a two-week period. The employee could try to dissolve the settlement agreement by invoking error.
Mitigate risk: If an employee is assisted by a legal lawyer the risk that the employee dissolves the settlement agreement or can successfully invoke an error is lower. We therefore include in the settlement agreement compensation for legal expenses to mitigate this risk.