Having employer's confirmation of employee termination of employment contract drafted: costs and process

Having an employer's confirmation of the employee's termination of the employment contract drafted by an employment lawyer typically costs €150 to €450 for a single letter, and €450 to €900 if the situation requires a legal assessment first. The letter itself is simple. What you are paying for is the assessment of whether the employee terminated the contract legally. That question determines whether you will end up with a closed case file or have to pay months of back wages because the judge rules that the employment never ended.

The short answer

• Single letter: €150 to €450 for a clear, written cancellation without complications.
• Letter with assessment: €450 to €900 for verbal termination, a conflict, illness, or a language barrier.
• Turnaround time: usually one to three working days, and the same day for urgent cases.
• What you provide: employment contract, collective labour agreement, the notice of termination itself, meeting minutes, and the personnel file.
• When necessary: ​​in case of doubt regarding the termination, in case of emotion, in case of illness, and regarding ongoing clauses.
• When not necessary: ​​in the case of a quiet, written resignation by an employee starting elsewhere.

When having an employer's confirmation of the termination of the employment contract drawn up by the employee pays off

The core of this case is not the letter, but the standard. A resignation by the employee is only legally valid if there is a clear and unambiguous statement aimed at terminating the employment contract. That is a strict test, precisely because the employee thereby leaves themselves without income and without unemployment benefits.

In case of doubt, you, as an employer, have a duty to investigate: to ascertain whether the employee genuinely wants to quit and whether he understands the consequences. Often, a duty to warn also applies. You must point out to the employee that, in principle, he is not entitled to unemployment benefits, will not receive a transition payment, and that his actions towards the UWV may be considered an act of detriment. Anyone who skips this step and simply confirms the facts does not have a file, but a risk.

What exactly the lawyer does

The work consists of four steps. First, the assessment: has the employment been terminated, how is this evident, and does that termination stand up against the strict standard? This involves examining the wording, the context, the emotional charge of the moment, and the employee's subsequent behavior.

The second step is calculating the end date. The employee's notice period follows from Article 7:672 of the Dutch Civil Code and amounts to one month as standard, with a written extension to a maximum of six months, in which case a double period applies to the employer. Notice is given at the end of the month, unless the contract or collective labour agreement stipulates otherwise. A collective labour agreement may contain deviating periods, and this is verified.

The third step is the letter itself: termination date, method of termination, notice period, last working day, end date, consequences, continuing terms, final settlement, company property, and certificate of employment. The fourth step is the duty of care clause, in which it is recorded that you have explained the consequences and offered a period of reflection. In retrospect, that clause is often the only proof that you have fulfilled your obligations.

Costs in focus

• Standard letter based on a written termination: €150 to €450.
• Letter with legal assessment of the termination: €450 to €900.
• Assessment in case of conflict, illness, or language barrier: €750 to €1,500, including advice on the next steps.
• Settlement agreement as an alternative: €750 to €1,750, when unilateral termination is too risky.
• Hourly rate for employment lawyer for SMEs: typically €175 to €275 per hour, excluding VAT.

Weigh those amounts against the risk. If a judge rules that the termination was never legally valid, the employment contract continues. You would then pay wages retroactively, possibly increased by the statutory surcharge of up to fifty percent and statutory interest, and you would still have to terminate the employment relationship via the UWV or the subdistrict court. For an average salary, this quickly amounts to many times the legal fees.

The process and what you provide

Good preparation saves time and money. Provide: the employment contract including attachments, the applicable collective labour agreement, the employee handbook, the notice of termination itself (letter, email, or app message), reports or notes of the conversation in which the termination took place, the final payslip, the balance of outstanding vacation days, and an overview of company property still in the employee's possession.

This is usually followed by a brief intake interview of twenty to thirty minutes regarding the circumstances. The draft letter usually arrives within one to three working days. In urgent cases, for example if the notice period is about to expire or the employee is already at home, same-day delivery is feasible. Please note that confirmation is sometimes delayed: in case of doubt, the advice is often to hold a conversation first and give the employee time to consider before confirming anything.

Risk situations that make the advice more expensive but necessary

In the case of a termination made on impulse, a confirmation is rarely drawn up immediately. Instead, a letter follows in which you state that you do not consider the statement to be a termination and invite the employee for a meeting. Only after a calm, written reaffirmation does the actual confirmation letter follow.

In the case of an employee with limited command of the Dutch language, the duty of investigation becomes more stringent. In such cases, an interpreter or a colleague who speaks the language is used, along with a written explanation in understandable language and a record of how this was done. Illness, an ongoing conflict, a non-compete or study cost clause, or an employee wishing to leave before the notice period permits also increase the complexity.

Brief example. A hospitality entrepreneur with nine employees hears a cook shout after a busy shift that he is quitting. Instead of deregistering him, the entrepreneur has a letter drafted stating that he does not consider the statement to be a resignation and invites the cook for a meeting. The cook retracts his words and continues working. Cost: one hour of advice, instead of a wage claim covering three months.

The letter also protects you

A confirmation letter is often seen as a favor to the departing employee. For you, however, it is primarily a piece of evidence. The document shows when and how the termination took place, that you explained the consequences, that you offered a period of reflection, and that the employee subsequently stood by their decision. It is precisely these points that determine the outcome if they later claim that they never resigned. Additionally, the letter eliminates disputes regarding the end date, the final settlement, vacation days, and whether the non-compete clause is still valid.

Honest recommendation

You often do not need a lawyer for this. If an employee resigns calmly and in writing because they are starting elsewhere, and there is no conflict, no sick leave, no language issue, and no special clause, then you write the confirmation yourself using a standard template. Do not pay any consultancy fees for this.

Do seek assistance if the termination was done verbally or emotionally, if the employee is ill or reports sick shortly thereafter, if a conflict is involved, if language plays a role, if the employee wishes to leave earlier than the notice period allows, or if a non-compete, non-solicitation, or study cost clause applies. In those cases, you are not paying for a letter, but for the answer to the question of whether the termination was legally valid. That answer makes the difference between a closed case and a wage claim.

Read more: employer confirmation of termination of employment contract by employee, what exactly this confirmation is , and drafting the confirmation yourself.

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