Hiring your friend's company at work? Can that be done just like that?
That's what this case before the Rotterdam subdistrict court was about that played out with container carrier Jordex. This company requires waivers. These contain information about the cargo, the sender and the addressee. Jordex does not make these waivers itself, but outsources this work to other companies. An employee of Jordex asked for permission to find another party for this. He found another company for this, but he left out one small detail: namely, that this was his girlfriend's company. By the way, his girlfriend did not even make those waivers herself, but hired yet another company and thus had a nice earning model. When the employer found this out after some time, the employee was summarily fired.
Instant dismissal holds up
Isn't that going a bit far? The Rotterdam subdistrict court found otherwise. By not telling Jordex that the company belonged to his girlfriend, the employee deprived Jordex of a fair chance to make its own choice about whether or not to hire his girlfriend. The employee also had a self-interest in doing so, because that way he also earned an extra penny through his girlfriend. So the employee should have said so honestly right away.
But it gets even stronger: the employee felt the pinch and had lied about a person supposedly working at the small company instead of his girlfriend. When the employer wanted proof of that, he tried to bribe a friend with an offer of money to pretend to work there. He had already used that friend's name under emails from the waiver company. He also wanted to transfer a monthly salary so that that friend could show a bank statement as if he was getting paid wages there. With that, the judge had seen enough and upheld the summary dismissal. The employee received no transitional compensation and must pay all of Jordex's litigation costs, which came out to €15,000.
This blog was written by Mr. Stijn Blom, employment lawyer at Arbeidsadvocaat.nl B.V. Stijn has extensive experience in employment law and assists entrepreneurs daily with a wide range of employment-related matters. From dismissal cases to drafting watertight contracts and policies – with his practical and personal approach, he helps employers and employees move forward. Want to know more?Visit Stijn's page.
Arbeidsadvocaat.nl is happy to think with you if you have questions about dismissal law. Please feel free to contact us.
June 2024
