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Can an employer in the Netherlands fire an employee with corona symptoms or require a vaccine

The management of Leaseplan, an international company of Dutch origin, wants all employees (and there are more than 6.000 of them) to be vaccinated, according to a specialized publication ...

Leaseplan, an international company of Dutch origin, wants all its 6.000 employees to be vaccinated, according to tax and legal publication Indicator.

According to the publication, Leaseplan will not check whether employees who come to the office are really vaccinated, but will let its employees know that they are not welcome to be vaccinated. Not only does Leaseplan dream of getting all employees to take root, but also Netflix and KLM, for example.

But can an employer demand mandatory vaccinations?

In the Netherlands, no one can be forced to vaccinate. There is no legal basis for admission to work only after vaccination.

The employee may or may not report that he was vaccinated. But, in the event that an employee is clearly sick and poses a threat to others, the management can call a doctor. The latter has the right to inquire whether the employee is vaccinated or if not, then proceed according to a special protocol.

 

Is it possible to fire an employee who came to work with symptoms of coronavirus?

Imagine this picture: an employee of one of the Dutch companies from the doorway begins to cough so that others become scared. Everyone has one thought at once: "Isn't it a crown?" Employees of the firm immediately ask a sick colleague to do a corona test. He refuses. According to him, he only has bronchitis.

The next day, the patient still decides to take the test. A few days later, it is revealed that he has tested positive for the crown. The employer decides through the court to terminate the employment contract with this employee. This is a real case, which the same publication of Indicator writes about, leaving the name of the company outside the brackets.

The employer insists that the employee deliberately exposed his colleagues to possible infection with the corona virus.

The employee actually violated the company's internal rules and government orders. Even children know these rules: if you have symptoms of coronavirus, stay at home and take care of getting tested for coronavirus. Obviously, the signs of bronchitis are also symptoms of COVID-19.

The judge ruled that the employee acted irresponsibly - he should not have come to work at all. But since he came, he should have gone home when his colleagues insisted. However, this is not a sufficient reason for dismissal.

Then the employer decided to use another ground for dismissal, namely "broken labor relations". And then the court sided with him.

Exactly what reasons he gave for the trial is unknown. But in this case, he could refer to the fact that the recent incident between him and the employee was so serious that the restoration of the employment relationship could not be expected.

Thus, the fact that an employee came to work with signs of COVID-19 is not always a reason for dismissal. But this may serve as a pretext for going to court.

In any case, we advise you to adhere to the government's recommendations. You should only go to work if the crown test is negative.

Read about the coronavirus business assistance package here.

Publication Date: 29.09.2021
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