Employee: Contractual household and reduction of hours

Questioner

Due to a decrease in work, they want to reduce my permanent contract from 20 to 13 hours. I myself proposed to leave the contract at 20 hours and then work 13 hours and take 7 hours of parental leave. They agree to this, but if the number of parental leave hours to which I am entitled is used up, they will still reduce my contract. Is that allowed?

Lawyer

No, the employer cannot unilaterally change the number of hours in your employment contract. He will need the employee's permission to do so. You can simply say no to this (counter)proposal. The employer can choose to ask the UWV work company for a dismissal permit or request the subdistrict court judge for dissolution. If that happens, you are certainly not culpably unemployed. If you do not or insufficiently oppose a reduction in working hours, you do run the risk of becoming culpably unemployed. If you have any further questions, please contact one of our lawyers.