{"product_id":"vragen-44651-ik-ben-een-23-jarige-filipijnse-jongeman-en-woon-nu-8-jaar-in-nederland-ik-werk-bijna-6-jaar-bij-su","title":"Legal Advice on Loss of Hours at Work","description":"\u003ch4\u003e Questioner\u003c\/h4\u003e \nI am a 23 year old Filipino young man, and have been living in the Netherlands for 8 years now. I have been working at a supermarket in Noordwijk for almost 6 years. I have had a permanent contract for 3 years now, but there are no hours listed there. All the years that I have worked at the supermarket, I have worked an average of 36 hours. Sometimes when there was a shortage of staff, I often worked 44 hours a week, and I have also never been sick for 1 day in all those years and have never been late. Now since January 4, 2016 they have reduced my hours to 12 hours a week and instead of €1300 I now only earn €500 a month. I went to the legal aid office and received 2 sample letters that I had to send by registered mail, but the only response was that my hours are now going from 12 to 9 hours a week. The legal aid office says that I have to go to a lawyer. But my own contributions are more than €800. Can the supermarket just do this, and does it make sense to go to a lawyer?\n\n\u003ch4\u003e Lawyer\u003c\/h4\u003e \nReading your story, it seems to me that your employer cannot simply reduce your number of hours. Since you have already approached the employer yourself without result, it is indeed a good idea to engage a lawyer or attorney.\n\n You speak of a personal contribution of €800.00, but I wonder if this is correct given your statement about income. Please recalculate this via the following website:\n\n http:\/\/www.rechtsbijstand.nl\/over-mediation-en-rechtsbijstand\/hoeveel-moet-ik-zelf-betalen\n\n\u003ch4\u003e Questioner\u003c\/h4\u003e\n\n Thank you for your response, but if I look at my income from 2014 and 2015, it was just over €22,000 gross per year and then there is €823 personal contribution. But in 2016 that will probably not even be €7,000 per year. I was told that only the income from 2014 counts. I think the supermarket chain wants me to resign in order to get rid of me.\n\n\u003ch4\u003e Lawyer\u003c\/h4\u003e \nIndeed, the reference year (2014) is taken into account. However, if your income has fallen drastically, then after the decision that a personal contribution of €823.00 is imposed, you can submit a request for a reference year shift in order to have a lower personal contribution imposed.\n\n Of course, it is not advisable to resign yourself, if only because you will forfeit your right to unemployment benefits.\n\n\u003ch4\u003e Questioner\u003c\/h4\u003e\n\n Thank you for your response, but if I look at my income from 2014 and 2015, it was just over €22,000 gross per year and then there is €823 personal contribution. But for 2016, that may not even be €7,000 per year. I was told that only the income from 2014 counts. I think the supermarket chain wants me to resign to get rid of me. If the supermarket wants to fire me, am I entitled to severance pay?\n\n","brand":"Rechtswinkel.nl","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":55017493299549,"sku":"","price":0.0,"currency_code":"EUR","in_stock":true}],"url":"https:\/\/www.rechtswinkel.nl\/en\/products\/vragen-44651-ik-ben-een-23-jarige-filipijnse-jongeman-en-woon-nu-8-jaar-in-nederland-ik-werk-bijna-6-jaar-bij-su","provider":"Rechtswinkel.nl","version":"1.0","type":"link"}