Legal Assistance in the event of Summary Dismissal


Questioner

I was recently fired on the spot. This had two reasons which I will explain below. 1. I paid an instructor an extra hour every week without consulting my superior because I knew this was not allowed. The instructor wanted a pay rise otherwise she would stop teaching. Because a lot of members would then resign, I wrote down an extra hour in the digital time registration system. 2. I have regularly adjusted my own hours manually in the digital time registration system. I did not work at all on 1 day and entered it as a working day in the system. The situation now is that a financial settlement will follow (based on Article 7:622 paragraph 2 in conjunction with paragraph 3 of the Dutch Civil Code) in which I am obliged to pay my gross salary up to and including the end of my notice period (1.5 months), because I have given a reason through intent or negligence that they had to terminate the employment contract. I understand that things have happened that give reason for dismissal. I also got this, and as if that is not bad enough (no unemployment benefit or something) I also have to pay a 'fine'. Can this just happen? Do they have the right to do this? Unfortunately I do not have legal expenses insurance, otherwise I would have called for help immediately. Now it is different because I have no income and do not want to immediately have high costs for a lawyer. In short, what do you advise me? Can I make a case out of this to get rid of this fine? Can I contest the dismissal?

Lawyer

The fact that you do not have legal expenses insurance is not so bad. Often their help is very slow and very poor (especially at the DAS). Depending on your (family) income/assets you can claim funded legal aid. Also many law firms, including mine, give free advice of max. half an hour (without any obligation). When I read your story, the summary dismissal could very well be legally valid. Under certain circumstances, an employer may recover the damages from you. This is stated in the law. The employer does need a court ruling for this. If you refuse to pay, the employer may not charge a fine and must go to the court. Experience shows that few employers do this. The employer must also do this again within 2 months after the dismissal (expiry period). When the employer offsets the 'damage' with the final settlement, VT and/or vacation days, then that is not allowed. In that case, you can go to court after 02 months and claim wages. At that time, the employer no longer has a (counter)claim. For further information I refer you to a specialized labor law attorney, e.g. me. He/she is a member of a specialized association.

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