Small business owners beware: staff meeting rights in reorganizations

Almost every employer has to deal with some form of employee participation. In companies where 10 to 50 people work and where no (voluntary) works council or employee representation has been established, business owner and employees must hold a consultation at least twice a year about the state of affairs in the company. This is called the staff meeting. This blog briefly discusses the most important rights and the role of the staff meeting in a reorganization.

The staff meeting

The staff meeting is a meeting of the business owner with the staff in which:

• discuss the general affairs of the company at least twice a year;
• all matters of importance to the company can be raised;
• for decisions significantly affecting 25% (or more) of employees, advice should be sought.

In addition to the mandatory twice a year, a staff meeting is also mandatory if a quarter of the employees request it. However, such a request must be substantiated. To determine the lower limit of 10 employees and the upper limit of 50 employees, all employees employed for six months or more must be considered.

Consultation rights

One of the rights of the staff meeting is the consultation right. All matters affecting the company can be discussed at the staff meeting. Both business owner and employees (who have been employed for at least six months) can come up with agenda items for the meeting and express their opinions during the meeting. Consultation is conducted with the business owner or, if the business owner does not manage the company itself, with the director.

Information Law

The business owner provides oral or written information on the activities and results of the past year as well as expectations for the coming year. In addition, the business owner must provide information on the personnel and social policies pursued and to be pursued.

Since January 1, 2019, the staff meeting has an explicit right to information about the pension provision. This means that you, as an employer, must actively provide your employees with information about the pension provision.

Advisory right

The business owner is required to seek the opinion of employees (who have been employed for at least six months) on proposed decisions affecting at least one-fourth of the workforce in the areas of:

• job losses;
• significant change in labor;
• significant change in working conditions;
• significant change in working conditions.

The advice must be requested at such a (timely) time that it can have a substantial influence on the decision to be made. In doing so, as business owner , you should provide all the information the employees need to arrive at an opinion.

The role of the staff meeting in a reorganization

If a reorganization involves the loss of at least 25% of jobs, the staff meeting must be asked for its opinion. If this is not done, the dismissal request will be refused by the UWV. By law, as business owner , you will first have to ask the staff meeting for its advice and only then submit the dismissal requests. In practice, this sequence creates bottlenecks that the legislator did not take into account. For example, it is conceivable that an employee calls in sick after a staff meeting - for strategic reasons. If the call in sick takes place before the UWV has received the request for dismissal, the ban on notice during illness will apply and the UWV will not grant a dismissal permit. To prevent the prohibition on notice from applying, the employer may choose to submit a preliminary request for dismissal (Part A) immediately prior to the staff meeting, and seek the advice of the employee representatives as soon as possible (preferably the next day). Thereafter, as business owner , you should make a final decision as to which employees the full request for dismissal will actually be submitted. The consequences of deviating from the legal order in this way do not seem major for the time being.

In conclusion

A reorganization is complex and usually a sensitive issue. In addition to the role of the employee participation body, there are many other issues to consider.

You can count on expert legal advice and practical support from our employment law specialists.

Wondering already what steps you need to take in a reorganization? Our animation video shows you in just two minutes which route to take in case of a proposed reorganization.