{"id":5936,"date":"2025-07-03T10:10:05","date_gmt":"2025-07-03T07:10:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/arbeidsadvocaat.nl\/the-difference-matters-as-of-or-on-a-date-in-your-contract\/"},"modified":"2026-08-18T16:20:32","modified_gmt":"2026-08-18T13:20:32","slug":"the-difference-matters-as-of-or-on-a-date-in-your-contract","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/arbeidsadvocaat.nl\/en\/the-difference-matters-as-of-or-on-a-date-in-your-contract\/","title":{"rendered":"The difference matters: “as of” or “on” a date in your contract"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Many employment contracts or termination letters state that the contract ends \u201cas of\u201d a certain date. Sometimes the terms \u201con\u201d or \u201ceffective\u201d are also used. Many people think these terms all mean the same thing, but legally, there is an important linguistic difference between them. And that can have major consequences for, for example, the right to a transition allowance. <\/p>\n\n

What do we mean by \u201cas of\u201d or \u201con\u201d a date?<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n

If a contract states that employment ends \u201ceffective April 1,\u201d then March 31 is the last day of work. That\u2019s clear. But what does it mean if it says \u201cas of April 1\u201d? <\/p>\n\n

That turns out to be less clear. \u201cAs of April 1\u201d can, in fact, be interpreted to mean that the employment relationship ends on March 31. But some people actually think that April 1 is the last day of work. That difference is crucial, because it determines when the expiration period begins. <\/p>\n\n

A case before the Supreme Court: one day too late<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n

In 2021, the Supreme Court had to rule<\/a> on precisely this issue. An employer had terminated the contract \u201ceffective March 1, 2018.\u201d The employee filed a petition for a transition allowance on May 30, 2018. <\/p>\n\n

According to the judge, that was too late. Why? Because \u201cas of March 1\u201d was interpreted to mean that the employment contract ended on February 28. The statutory deadline for submitting a petition is three months after the last day of work. In this case, that deadline expired on May 28. The employee therefore submitted her petition two days too late and consequently lost her right to compensation. <\/p>\n\n

Why is that due date so important?<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n

Strict deadlines apply to many legal proceedings under labor law. Examples include: <\/p>\n\n