From 1 January 2016 onwards, the calculation of the severance payment for a dismissed employee who has a right to outplacement under the Single Employment Status Act is always based on the notice period reduced by four weeks, whether or not the employee accepts the outplacement offer.
Context: Outplacement and the Single Employment Status Act
Before the entry into force of the Single Employment Status Act, employers only had to offer outplacement to certain employees aged at least 45 years. The Single Employment Status Act has introduced a general regime for outplacement. Under this general regime, the employer has to make an outplacement offer to every employee who is dismissed and has a right to a notice period of at least 30 weeks or a corresponding severance payment, except in the case of employees who are dismissed for serious cause.
Since the Single Employment Status Act, an employee who is dismissed with a severance payment is entitled to a dismissal package consisting of, on the one hand, outplacement services and, on the other hand, a severance payment amounting to salary for the duration of the notice period reduced by four weeks to compensate for the value of the outplacement services. The Single Employment Status Act contains a transitional provision according to which, until 31 December 2015, an employee who is dismissed with a severance payment is entitled to a severance payment calculated based on a notice period which is not reduced by four weeks, unless the employee accepts an outplacement offer.
New provision since 1 January 2016
Since the transitional period ended on 31 December 2015, an employer who dismisses an employee with a severance payment is entitled, as from 1 January 2016, to always calculate the severance payment on the basis of the applicable notice period reduced by four weeks, whether or not the employee actually accepts the outplacement offer.