Can an employer simply demote you and your salary without prior notice or expression of dissatisfaction?

Questioner

A few days ago I had an end-of-year meeting at work. In that meeting I was completely trashed. I was told that I had to leave the department, hand over my car, report to our operational director for another position within our company and that I currently earn too much for that other position, internally, so I have to give up wages. I have not had 1 conversation with my manager in the past year that things were not going well. Not 1 signal! So this hit me pretty hard! The whole story is too much to type now. I would like to explain this story sometime if this is necessary. But I have been working for this company for almost 25 years and I have therefore built up a reasonable salary. Now my question is: If your employer is not satisfied with your performance, he is allowed to demote you or downgrade you. But if this happens, they are not allowed to touch your salary, right????? I had a conversation with our operational director and he said: it must be your choice to take this step, so you have to give up wages! This afternoon he called me that he actually wants an answer tomorrow whether I am going to take that step or not. Can any of you tell me what my rights are in this? I am starting to get a gut feeling that they want to get rid of me. I would like to hear from you. The sooner the better.

Lawyer

The employer's behavior seems to me to be in conflict with good employer practices (Article 7:611 of the Dutch Civil Code). This is also in conflict with the provisions regarding unilateral changes to the employment contract (Stoof/Mammoet criterion). I therefore advise you to contact a specialized labor law attorney (member of a specialist association) immediately. The first consultation is often free. Your case is too complex to make a sound judgment without knowing the details of the case.