Can you be fired after calling in sick?

Questioner

Today I was informed that they want to terminate my permanent contract. Three weeks ago I contacted HR and indicated that I was completely fed up and told them my story: With the arrival of new management/board in December, a number of verbal agreements were reversed, which resulted in me receiving less favorable employment conditions while they did give me more responsibility and work pressure. I went against this and was then told that I should look for another job if I thought I would be better off there. I did not do that at the time, but it did affect me and I became very demotivated. Shortly after that I heard that I had to leave my home at the end of March, finding a home is really not easy at the moment. I had a lot of stress about this because at one point I only had a week to find something and otherwise I would be on the street, I also contacted the director about this but never heard from her again. I eventually found something in another city at the last minute but of course this was not good for my state of mind. On top of that our head office is in Alkmaar and I had to arrange everything myself from Brabant. Because of this I felt very lonely and I had days when I could not get off the couch, I also lost a lot of weight and slept badly. Of course my work also suffered from this. Now we come to the point that three weeks ago I called HR and told my story. I indicated that I would rather not sit at home and told her that I had not yet been to the GP. She told me that it was good that I had raised the alarm in time and that I should perhaps do some more work with colleagues to be more among people. I agreed to this. The following week I contact the director myself, because I was not comfortable with a number of things and I wanted to have more clarity about what was expected of me. Since I had been doing tasks for a while that were not actually part of my contracted position. She asks me to think carefully about what I want and to think of a solution. A week later we agree to schedule a meeting on Tuesday 17 May to discuss a few things. Now I arrive at the Head Office today, after having done my very best to get back to work with renewed courage after that conversation with HR. They let me know right at the beginning of the conversation that they wanted to say goodbye to me, which of course hit me hard. They also told me that they had data from the car and that things were not right. After this I also lashed out at them and at the end I shouted. Then I will call in sick from now on! After that I had no more contact with them. What can someone advise me? I would prefer not to be sick at home but I also do not want to agree to the termination of the contract. I did go to the GP today to ask for help and have an intake for professional help on 8 June. I was thinking myself, if I have a strong negotiating position because they did not act well, I would agree to a settlement/higher transition compensation. To be honest, I would rather leave this behind me as soon as possible.

Lawyer

What a particularly unpleasant situation. It is important for you with what you describe that you are well informed by, for example, a lawyer who specializes in labor law. What your employer is doing is not very pleasant and neat. If he wants to get rid of you, he will have to do so with a termination proposal or with permission from the UWV. The latter is not so easy for an employer. You may not be dismissed during illness. If desired, we can assist you in this. If you have any questions, you can always contact us.