What you need to know about notice periods in the Netherlands

Questioner

Employee perspective: What does a notice period begin and when does it end (according to the law of the Netherlands)? If an employee has a notice period of 2 months and he/she resigns on 18th October, will the notice period end on December 31st or December 18th? My boss told that the moment you refuse, your notice period begins. Based on that, the contract should end on December 18th. Is that true? I am confused how the notice period is calculated in Netherlands. (Note: The contract does not mention any special dates about notice period. It just says for termination, a notice period of 2 months is necessary.)

Lawyer

If there are no other agreements on this matter, then we have to take a look at the Dutch law. According to the law the notice period starts at the end of the month. So if someone resigns on the 18th of October then the two month notice period will end on the 31st of December.