{"id":6050,"date":"2025-04-22T07:56:08","date_gmt":"2025-04-22T04:56:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/arbeidsadvocaat.nl\/can-you-be-fired-as-a-manager-for-having-an-affair-at-work\/"},"modified":"2026-08-16T15:46:25","modified_gmt":"2026-08-16T12:46:25","slug":"can-you-be-fired-as-a-manager-for-having-an-affair-at-work","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/arbeidsadvocaat.nl\/en\/can-you-be-fired-as-a-manager-for-having-an-affair-at-work\/","title":{"rendered":"Can you be fired as a manager for having an affair at work?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Introduction<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Inappropriate behavior in the workplace takes many forms, but when a supervisor uses his position of power to force a (renewed) personal relationship, it directly violates ethical standards and labor law. <a href=\"https:\/\/uitspraken.rechtspraak.nl\/details?id=ECLI:NL:RBLIM:2024:1160\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">A recent case centered on<\/a> precisely such a situation: a warehouse manager attempted to rekindle a past affair, abused his position, and ultimately lost his job. How did the judge rule? And why did this not result in immediate dismissal, but rather in termination without severance pay?  <\/p>\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>From an Affair to Abuse of Power<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The case began with a romantic relationship between two coworkers. After the relationship ended, the dynamics in the workplace changed. Shortly thereafter, the male employee was promoted to warehouse manager. He then engaged in conspicuous behavior:   <\/p>\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>He didn&#8217;t stick to his work hours and took long breaks,<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>He approved or denied leave requests depending on who he liked,<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>He threatened to &#8220;beat up&#8221; his coworkers if they complained.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">His behavior toward his former partner continued: he kept pressuring her to resume their relationship, spoke negatively about her to the director, forbade her from contacting colleagues, and threatened to fire her.<\/p>\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>The Notice and Immediate Dismissal<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The employee eventually filed a complaint with the director. As a result of this report, the warehouse manager was <a href=\"https:\/\/arbeidsadvocaat.nl\/definitie\/ontslag-op-staande-voet\/\">summarily dismissed<\/a>. The employee contested this dismissal, citing, among other things, video evidence in which the employee stated that she had made everything up.  <\/p>\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">However, this turned out to be part of a far-reaching manipulation. Prior to the video, the employee had made an audio recording in which she stated that she had been pressured to make the false confession on video. This brought the truth to light and undermined the employee\u2019s defense.  <\/p>\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>The judge&#8217;s ruling<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The judge found the employee\u2019s conduct to be <a href=\"https:\/\/arbeidsadvocaat.nl\/definitie\/ernstig-verwijtbaar-handelen-of-nalaten\/\">seriously reprehensible<\/a>. As a supervisor, he had abused his position of authority, intimidated colleagues, and attempted to pressure the female employee. This was deemed extremely serious conduct, especially given his role as a role model and the unsafe environment he created in the workplace.  <\/p>\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Nevertheless, the summary dismissal was not declared legally valid. Why? Because the employer had waited more than 20 days to issue the dismissal after the facts had come to light. According to the law, summary dismissal must follow \u201cimmediately\u201d upon discovery of the misconduct. That time limit had been exceeded in this case.    <\/p>\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Termination Without Compensation<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Although the summary dismissal was not upheld, the judge nevertheless decided to terminate the employment contract. There was serious culpable conduct, as a result of which the employee was not entitled to a transition payment. The judge took the employee\u2019s position of power, the threatening behavior, and the attempt to influence the situation very seriously.  <\/p>\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Conclusion<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">This case shows that a romantic relationship in the workplace is not prohibited, but that the consequences can be severe if things go wrong, especially when there is a power imbalance and inappropriate influence. Managers serve as role models, and if they abuse that position, it can lead to far-reaching legal consequences. Even if the summary dismissal does not formally hold up, the employment contract may still be terminated without compensation.  <\/p>\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity is-style-dots\"\/>\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image alignright size-large is-resized\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"683\" src=\"https:\/\/arbeidsadvocaat.nl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/KF_6364_def-1024x683.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-2551\" style=\"width:406px;height:auto\" srcset=\"https:\/\/arbeidsadvocaat.nl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/KF_6364_def-1024x683.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/arbeidsadvocaat.nl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/KF_6364_def-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/arbeidsadvocaat.nl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/KF_6364_def-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/arbeidsadvocaat.nl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/KF_6364_def-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/arbeidsadvocaat.nl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/KF_6364_def.jpg 2048w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">This blog was written by Stijn Blom, Esq., an employment law attorney at Arbeidsadvocaat.nl B.V. Stijn has extensive experience in employment law and assists employers and employees on a daily basis with a wide range of employment law issues.  From dismissal cases to drafting watertight agreements and policies\u2014with his practical and personalized approach, he helps employers and employees move forward. Want to learn more? Visit <a href=\"https:\/\/arbeidsadvocaat.nl\/over\/team\/stijn-blom\/\">Stijn&#8217;s page<\/a>.  <\/p>\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Arbeidsadvocaat.nl is happy to help you if you have any questions about termination. Please feel free <a href=\"https:\/\/arbeidsadvocaat.nl\/contact\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">to contact us <\/a>.   <\/p>\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em>April 2025<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Introduction Inappropriate behavior in the workplace takes many forms, but when a supervisor uses his position of power to force a (renewed) personal relationship, it directly violates ethical standards and labor law. A recent case centered on precisely such a situation: a warehouse manager attempted to rekindle a past affair, abused his position, and ultimately [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":6052,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"inline_featured_image":false,"navigation_state":true,"_joinchat":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[26],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6050","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-exclude"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/arbeidsadvocaat.nl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6050","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/arbeidsadvocaat.nl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/arbeidsadvocaat.nl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/arbeidsadvocaat.nl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/8"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/arbeidsadvocaat.nl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6050"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/arbeidsadvocaat.nl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6050\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/arbeidsadvocaat.nl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6052"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/arbeidsadvocaat.nl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6050"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/arbeidsadvocaat.nl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6050"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/arbeidsadvocaat.nl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6050"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}