Dilemma
When the CEO of Techbedrijf Astronomer and the Head of Human Resources during a Coldplay concert were caught in each other by Kiss Cam They didn’t know how soon they had to dive away. Not much later their departure followed at the company. What you do in your private time can have consequences for your work and even lead to dismissal. What about that in the Netherlands? When does (Wan) behavior be dismissed outside of work and when not?
How does the employee function?
There are three common categories from behavior outside of working hours that leads to a labor dispute: an employee who ends up in prison, drug use and entering into a relationship with a client or colleague, such as the Astronomer riot.
A criminal prosecution does not automatically have employment law consequences. “If you are prosecuted, that does not mean that you are not doing your work well,” says Rez Gaff, lawyer and teacher of employment law at Tilburg University. “The judge always looks in the first place at how that employee functions,” said Gaff. And if someone functions well, what someone has done outside of working hours is not immediately a reason for dismissal.
That turned out for example a matter In which a bank employee had committed sexual abuse with his stepson. He had been sentenced to prison for that and his employer fired him with immediate effect. The man fought his dismissal and the Supreme Court ultimately ruled that it was unlawful because the functioning of the bank employee is unpleasant from the fornication that the employee committed. Moreover, he had already been punished for fornication.
Employers want to prevent safety risks or conflicts of interest
Even a prison sentence therefore does not automatically lead to a dismissal. “Often it does lead to the termination of the employment contract, which happens to the subdistrict court judge,” says lawyer Gaff. Because you are simply not available to work, your contract will be dissolved. “In such a case you can still be entitled to a transition payment and unemployment benefit, to which you are not entitled to an immediate dismissal.”
If something happens in private time, which means that an employer no longer wants to continue with an employee, is also possible a termination agreement are signed. Then a corridor to court is prevented. For example, because (one of) both parties wants to prevent such a valuable and long procedure. Procedure is not always the best option, says Gaff. “You always have to consider: what could I get to the court what I have not received yet? Sometimes you were simply offered a nice similarity and you want to get stuck in a certain procedure with your life.”
Does the employee have an exemplary position?
If there is a clear relationship between the misconduct outside working hours and the execution of the work, dismissal can still be appropriate. That writes employment lawyer Pascal Besselink on LinkedIn, where he A list of judicial statements Share that point. Each case is assessed by the judge on the basis of the specific facts and circumstances. And sometimes that leads to dismissal.
For many employers it is important that their employees are of undisputed behavior. This applies, for example, to care or hotel staff, whose behavior clients can turn away from the care provider or the hotel. “Often employers also have house rules and codes of conduct, which clearly records what is and what is not allowed,” said Gaff. For example, drug use can be prohibited outside of work, with an immediate dismissal.
“If you sign an employment contract, you agree with those rules, whether you have read them or not,” says Gaff. In addition to relationships with patients or colleagues, drug use is also often prohibited in certain professions. “Employers want to maintain certain trust and prevent a conflict of interest or possible safety risks.”
Some employers take it certain for the uncertain and let employees do a drug test. Also served about that a matterwhere a hotel employee who had used cocaine was fired because she refused to participate in a rehabilitation program. In that case, the Supreme Court ruled that the interpretation in the private sphere was justified by the employer. “Maintaining the reputation and safety of the hotel made the violation proportional,” says Gaff.
Finally, there are things in which certain views are considered incompatible with the work. For example, a Greenpeace employee on Facebook made political statements in violation of the Code of Conduct of the company. The judge declined the contract, and judge That the employee had acted in violation of good employment. “The opinion of that employee was so at odds with the core values of Greenpeace, as a result of which the employer would lead image damage if she still held the employee,” says Gaff.
So
What you do in your private time is basically private. But how you behave can still have consequences for your work. Whether and how it can cost you your job always depends on the circumstances. In any case, be aware of what you have agreed with your employer about this. If behaviors have brought you and your employer into a difficult position, and your employer wants to get rid of you, ask yourself if it is worth litigation.