Requesting Termination Yourself: When Can You Leave and Receive Severance Pay?

What Published Case Law Teaches Us About Employee Termination (Art. 7:671c of the Dutch Civil Code), Counterclaims, and Bargaining Power in VSO Negotiations, July 2015 through July 2026

You want to leave your employer, but not empty-handed. Termination of the employment contract at the employee’s request seems like a logical step. However, the termination of the employment contract and a severance payment are two different outcomes, each subject to its own set of criteria. We analyzed 585 published final decisions involving an employee’s request for termination and examined the outcomes of this approach in published case law.

In more than half of the cases, it is a counterclaim

It is by no means always the case that an employee who files a request for termination takes the matter to court on their own. In 213 of the 585 rulings, only an employee’s request was at issue. In 299 cases—more than half—the employee files a counterclaim after the employer has requested termination. And in 72 cases, the employee initiates the proceedings and the employer files a request for termination as a counterclaim. An employee’s request can therefore also play a role in proceedings initiated by the employer, for example, as a conditional request in the event that the employer withdraws its own request.

For the figures below, we examine the 213 decisions involving only an employee’s petition. Only in those cases can the outcome and awards be unequivocally attributed to that petition. This study did not systematically determine whether these proceedings were preceded by other legal proceedings. In mixed proceedings, the judge often addresses the employer’s request first, after which the counterclaim is no longer considered; in such cases, it is not possible to reliably distinguish between dismissal and non-consideration in the records.

Why Employees Themselves Request Termination

A strained working relationship is by far the most common reason: well over half of all employee requests revolve around this issue. This is followed by the employer pressuring the employee to leave, unpaid wages, violations of reintegration obligations, and an unsafe work environment. Behind these broad categories lie specific allegations that recur in the court rulings: withholding wages as a means of pressure, exclusion from consultations and systems, intimidation, and a systematic failure to provide support during illness.

Termination Granted in 89% of the Requests Reviewed

Of the 213 cases involving only an employee’s request, termination was granted in 190 cases: 89%. A different standard applies to termination at the employee’s request than to termination at the employer’s request. The subdistrict court judge assesses whether the circumstances are such that, in the interests of fairness, the employment contract should be terminated immediately or after a short period of time (Art. 7:671c(1) of the Dutch Civil Code). Serious culpable conduct on the part of the employer is not required for the termination itself. However, it is necessary for the award of equitable compensation, and that is where the focus of the dispute generally shifts.

When is fair compensation paid?

Under this approach, fair compensation requires that the termination result from serious culpable acts or omissions on the part of the employer. And that is a high bar. The court found serious culpable acts or omissions in 59% of the 190 cases in which the claim was granted. In 168 of the 190 decisions, fair compensation was requested (88%). In 101 of those, it was awarded: 60%. In addition, one decision recorded an award without a formal request. This brings the total to 102 out of 190 decisions: 54%.

The amounts awarded fall significantly short of the claims. When a claim is granted, the median fair compensation is €18,000, calculated based on the 101 awards for which the amount is known; the decisions regarding two employees were excluded from the analysis of award amounts. In the 94 cases where both the requested and the awarded amounts are known, the median ratio between the two is 35%; rejections were not counted as zero in this calculation. For those interested in the factors that determine this amount, we previously published a separate study on fair compensation.

Nor is the transition payment automatically granted in the event of a request for termination by the employee. In the event of termination at the employee’s request, pursuant to Article 7:673(1)(b)(2) of the Dutch Civil Code, the employer is only obligated to pay a transition allowance if the termination results from serious culpable acts or omissions on the part of the employer. The transition payment was awarded in 114 of the 190 cases (60%) and denied in 55 (29%); in the remaining 21 cases, it was not requested, not at issue, had already been paid, or its status remained unknown.

In summary: in 67 of the 190 decisions (35%), neither fair compensation nor a transition payment was awarded. This does not necessarily mean that the employee actually left without compensation. Other claims, such as back pay or contractual compensation, are not included in this count. And there is a statutory safety net, which is discussed in more detail below.

A disappointing outcome? The petition for dissolution can still be withdrawn

An employee who requests termination does not automatically have to leave if the court rejects the requested equitable compensation or sets a lower amount. The court will then give the employee the opportunity to withdraw the request for termination within a specified period (Art. 7:686a, paras. 6 and 7 of the Dutch Civil Code). This prevents the employment contract from being terminated at the employee’s own request. However, withdrawal does not fully reverse the situation: any litigation costs, ancillary claims, and an independent request for termination by the employer are not thereby dismissed.

For this study, that is an important distinction. A decision ordering termination without fair compensation does not automatically mean that the employee will subsequently leave under those terms.

What does this mean for VSO negotiations?

These figures provide insight into the alternative legal process outside of the negotiating table. Relevant questions to ask: What should you do as an employee if the court agrees to terminate the employment contract but rejects the compensation or sets it at a lower amount? The revocation provision under Article 7:686a of the Dutch Civil Code prevents the employment contract from being terminated at the employee’s own request in such a case, but this does not rule out potential litigation costs, ancillary claims, or an independent request for termination by the employer. What specific facts support the allegation of serious culpable conduct? Without sufficient substantiation, the likelihood of receiving fair compensation is low, and the right to the transition allowance is generally forfeited as well. Furthermore: what happens if the employer requests termination? In published case law, the counterclaim is the most common form this route takes, and the order in which the claims are heard can determine which forms of compensation are at issue.

What these figures do not reveal: what amount is reasonable in a settlement agreement. Settlements, prior offers, and cases that are resolved without litigation are not included. However, the figures in this article do provide a realistic benchmark for the discussion about litigating versus settling, including the time involved: in the 139 cases with a known date for the petition and the ruling, the median processing time from filing to ruling was 81 days.