Probation period in the Netherlands: duration, requirements and dismissal

A probation period (proeftijd) is an agreed period at the start of a Dutch employment contract during which both the employer and the employee may end the contract with immediate effect, without notice, without a reason and without permission from UWV or a court. Under Article 7:652 of the Dutch Civil Code it must be the same for both parties, it must be agreed in writing and it may never exceed two months. For most fixed-term contracts the maximum is one month, and a contract of six months or less cannot contain one at all.

English-language contracts and websites use both "probation period" and "trial period" for the proeftijd. Dutch law knows one concept, not two, and this guide uses the terms interchangeably. It is something different from the UWV trial placement (proefplaatsing), a benefit scheme explained further down this page.

Dutch probation periods at a glance

• Two months at most for a permanent contract and for a fixed-term contract of two years or longer.
• One month at most for a fixed-term contract of more than six months but less than two years, and for a fixed-term contract whose end is not set on a calendar date. Only a collective labour agreement can depart from these two limits.
• No probation period at all in a contract of six months or less, in a new contract with the same employer unless the job clearly requires different skills or responsibilities, and with an employer that is the successor of the previous one.
• Form: in writing, the same for both parties, and agreed when the contract is concluded.
• Void if any of these rules is broken. A clause that is too long is void in its entirety and is not cut back to the maximum.
• Termination with immediate effect, without a reason and without UWV or the court. The employer must give the reason in writing if the employee asks for it.
• What still applies: the bans on discrimination, the bans on dismissal because of for example trade union membership or taking statutory leave, and the transition payment.

A probation period does not suspend the ordinary employment relationship. The employee is an employee from the first day: salary, holiday accrual, sick pay and the employer's duty to act as a good employer all apply. What the probation period switches off is dismissal protection, and it switches off less of it than many employers and employees assume.

On this page

How Long Can a Probation Period Last in the Netherlands?

The maximum depends on the type and the length of the contract as it was concluded. Two months is the statutory ceiling for any individual agreement, and for most fixed-term contracts the ceiling is one month.

The boundaries are exact. A contract of exactly six months cannot contain a probation period, while a contract of six months and one day can contain one of one month. A fixed-term contract of exactly two years falls in the two-month category, because the statute says "two years or longer".

The length is assessed when the contract is concluded. Extending a one-year contract later does not retroactively permit a longer probation period, and a renewal brings its own restriction, discussed below.

A probation period cannot be extended. Article 7:652 of the Dutch Civil Code contains no rule allowing the period to be lengthened to make up for illness, holidays or other absence, and paragraph 8 makes any clause contrary to the article void. An employer who needs more time to assess a new employee cannot solve that with a second probation period or a longer one. The usual alternative is a first fixed-term contract, bearing in mind the rules on successive fixed-term contracts.

What Are the Requirements for a Valid Probation Period?

A probation period only exists if the parties agree one. There is no statutory default: without a valid clause, the contract simply has no probation period. A valid clause meets five conditions.

1. It is the same for both parties. Article 7:652 of the Dutch Civil Code (1). A clause that gives only the employer the right to terminate during the probation period does not meet this requirement.
2. It is agreed in writing. Article 7:652 of the Dutch Civil Code (2). An oral agreement is not enough.
3. It is agreed when the contract is concluded. Paragraphs 3 and 4 allow a probation period "when entering into" the contract. A probation period cannot be added once the employee has started.
4. It stays within the maximum for the type of contract, set out in the table above.
5. It is not excluded by paragraph 6: the contract lasts longer than six months, and it is not a successive contract with the same employer or with a successor employer, unless the new job clearly requires different skills or responsibilities.

Separately, the employer must give the employee written or electronic information about the employment, and that information must include the duration and conditions of any probation period: Article 7:655 of the Dutch Civil Code (1)(q). That information duty and the requirement to agree the probation period in writing are two different things. The safe course is a probation clause in the signed employment contract itself, signed before the first working day.

When Is a Probation Period Void?

A probation clause that breaches any part of Article 7:652 of the Dutch Civil Code is void under paragraph 8. The contract then continues as if no probation period had been agreed, and a dismissal based on the clause is a dismissal without any of the safeguards that normally apply.

A clause that is too long. An overlong probation period is void in its entirety. It is not reduced to the maximum that would have been allowed. The Supreme Court of the Netherlands (Hoge Raad) decided this in Van Hensbergen/Albers in 1987, in the case of a car mechanic with a three-month probation clause when the maximum was two months. The court refused to convert the clause into a valid one, because the maximum exists so that an employee is not deprived of dismissal protection for longer than the law allows. The case was decided under the predecessor of Article 7:652, and the rule is still applied: a two-month clause in a one-year contract leaves that contract with no probation period at all.

A renewal or a new contract with the same employer. Under Article 7:652 of the Dutch Civil Code (6)(b) no probation period can be agreed in a successive contract between the same employee and the same employer, unless the new contract clearly requires different skills or responsibilities from the employee than the previous one. Renewing a fixed-term contract, or turning a fixed-term contract into a permanent one for the same job, therefore does not open a new probation period. A genuine change of role can, but "clearly" is a demanding standard and the employer carries the risk if it is not met.

A successor employer. Paragraph 6(c) applies the same rule where the new employer must reasonably be regarded, with respect to the work performed, as the successor of the previous employer. The classic situation is someone who did the same work through an agency or a payroll company and is then taken into direct employment. Whether the new employer is a successor depends on the facts, and when it is, a probation clause in the new contract is void.

A contract of six months or less, a clause that is not in writing, a clause that binds only one party, and a clause agreed after the start are all void as well.

The consequence matters most when the employer has already relied on the clause. A dismissal during a probation period that turns out to be void is a termination without the employee's consent and without UWV permission or a court decision. That breaches Article 7:671 of the Dutch Civil Code, and the employee can ask the subdistrict court to annul the termination or to award fair compensation under Article 7:681 of the Dutch Civil Code (1)(a). The request must be filed within two months after the contract ended: Article 7:686a of the Dutch Civil Code (4)(a). If the contract was for a fixed term without a clause allowing early termination, the employee may also claim the salary for the rest of the term under Article 7:677 of the Dutch Civil Code (4), which the court can reduce, but not below three months' salary.

Can a Collective Labour Agreement Change the Probation Period?

Only in two situations, and only by a collective labour agreement (cao) or a regulation by a competent public body. An individual employment contract cannot do it.

Article 7:652 of the Dutch Civil Code (7) allows a departure to the employee's detriment from exactly two limits: the one-month maximum for a fixed-term contract of more than six months but less than two years, and the one-month maximum for a fixed-term contract without a calendar end date. Nothing else in the article can be changed by a collective labour agreement. A cao cannot lengthen the two-month maximum for a permanent contract or for a contract of two years or longer, it cannot allow a probation period in a contract of six months or less, and it cannot remove the requirements that the period be written and the same for both parties.

The statute itself sets no ceiling for the permitted departure. The outer limit comes from EU law: the probation period may not exceed six months, and for fixed-term contracts it must be proportionate to the expected duration of the contract and the nature of the work (see EU law below). Whether a particular cao actually uses the possibility, and for which contracts, has to be checked in the text of that cao.

How Can an Employer End the Contract During the Probation Period?

Under Article 7:676 of the Dutch Civil Code (1), as long as the probation period has not expired, either party may terminate the contract with immediate effect. No notice period, no reasonable ground and no permission from UWV or the court are required.

Three provisions of the Dutch dismissal system make this work. Article 7:671 of the Dutch Civil Code (1)(b) exempts a termination during the probation period from the rule that an employer may only terminate with the employee's written consent, UWV permission or a court decision. Article 7:669 of the Dutch Civil Code (7) disapplies the requirement of a reasonable ground for dismissal. And Article 7:676 itself removes the notice period.

The reason, on request. An employer who terminates must, if the employee asks, state the reason for the termination in writing: Article 7:676 of the Dutch Civil Code (2). The duty lies on the employer only; an employee who leaves during the probation period does not have to explain why. The reason does not have to be a good one, but it must not be an unlawful one, and the written reason is often the first piece of evidence in a discrimination claim.

Timing. The termination must take effect before the probation period expires. A declaration addressed to a specific person only takes effect when it reaches that person: Article 3:37 of the Dutch Civil Code (3). A letter posted on the last day and delivered the day after comes too late, and the employer is then left with the ordinary dismissal rules. An employer who decides late in the period should deliver the termination in person or by a channel where receipt can be proved.

Form. Article 7:676 prescribes no form for the termination itself. Oral termination is legally possible, but a written confirmation is the only reliable evidence of what was said and when.

The employee's side. The same freedom applies to the employee, who can leave during the probation period with immediate effect and without observing the one-month notice period that would otherwise apply.

Which Dismissal Protections Still Apply During the Probation Period?

The probation period switches off the preventive dismissal test, the notice period and part of the statutory dismissal prohibitions. It does not switch off the bans on discrimination, the prohibitions on dismissal "because of" specific circumstances, or the transition payment.

All references are to the Dutch Civil Code. The key to the table is Article 7:670a of the Dutch Civil Code (2)(b). It disapplies only paragraphs 1 to 4 and paragraph 10 of Article 7:670 during the probation period. Those are the prohibitions that protect an employee during a situation: illness, pregnancy, military service, works council membership. Paragraphs 5 to 9 prohibit dismissal because of something, such as trade union membership or exercising the right to parental leave, and they remain fully in force. An employer may therefore end the contract of an employee who happens to be on leave during the probation period, but not because the employee took that leave. See also the overview of Dutch dismissal prohibitions.

The bans on discrimination cover, among other grounds, sex including pregnancy (Article 7:646 of the Dutch Civil Code), disability or chronic illness (Equal Treatment on the Grounds of Disability or Chronic Illness Act, Article 4(b)), and the grounds of the General Equal Treatment Act, such as religion, race, nationality and sexual orientation. Age is covered by the Equal Treatment in Employment (Age Discrimination) Act. Articles 7:648 and 7:649 protect part-time and temporary workers against unequal treatment. More on the subject: discrimination in employment in the Netherlands.

Beyond the statutes, the Supreme Court held in Codfried/ISS that the power to dismiss during the probation period can be misused, and that it is misused where the dismissal must be assumed to rest on discrimination. The duty to act as a good employer under Article 7:611 of the Dutch Civil Code also applies during the probation period. In practice those general norms rarely succeed on their own; a claim built on a specific statutory prohibition is much stronger.

Can You Be Dismissed During Probation While Sick or Pregnant?

In principle yes, because the ban on dismissal during illness and the ban on dismissal during pregnancy do not apply during the probation period. But a dismissal because of pregnancy is sex discrimination, and a dismissal because of a disability or chronic illness is prohibited as well.

Illness. An employer may end the contract of an employee who falls ill during the probation period. The ordinary rule that an employer cannot terminate during the first two years of illness does not apply. The limit is discrimination: the Equal Treatment on the Grounds of Disability or Chronic Illness Act prohibits distinction when ending an employment relationship, and whether an illness is a chronic illness or a disability within the meaning of that Act depends on the facts. For the rules outside the probation period, see dismissal of an ill employee.

Pregnancy. The statutory ban on dismissal during pregnancy is disapplied during the probation period, but the ban on sex discrimination is not. Under Article 7:646 of the Dutch Civil Code (5)(b), direct discrimination on grounds of sex includes discrimination on grounds of pregnancy, childbirth and motherhood. A dismissal during the probation period because the employee is pregnant can be annulled by the court, or the court can award fair compensation, under Article 7:681(1)(c) of the Dutch Civil Code.

The burden of proof shifts. Under Article 7:646 of the Dutch Civil Code (12), if the employee puts forward facts from which discrimination can be presumed, the employer must prove that it did not discriminate. A dismissal shortly after the employee announced a pregnancy, without a documented performance concern from before that moment, is the typical example. Employers who have a genuine reason should record it when it arises, not after the termination.

The maternity leave rules and the protection that applies after the probation period are covered on separate pages.

What Is an Employee Owed When Dismissed During Probation?

A dismissal during the probation period ends the contract, not the employer's payment obligations. The employee is owed salary up to the last day, payment for untaken holiday and, because the statute makes no exception for the probation period, the transition payment.

• Salary up to and including the day the contract ends.
• Untaken holiday. An employee who still has holiday entitlement when the contract ends is entitled to a payment in money for it: Article 7:641 of the Dutch Civil Code (1). Holiday allowance accrued up to that date is paid out in the final settlement as well.
• Transition payment. Under Article 7:673 of the Dutch Civil Code (1)(a) the employer owes a transition payment whenever it terminates the contract. The exceptions in paragraph 7 concern young employees working twelve hours a week or less, termination at pension age and seriously culpable conduct by the employee. The probation period is not among them. The amount is one third of a month's salary for each year of service and a proportional part for a shorter period (paragraph 2), so after a few weeks it is a small sum. It is still owed, and it is often forgotten.

A claim for the transition payment must be filed with the subdistrict court within three months after the contract ended: Article 7:686a of the Dutch Civil Code (4)(b). The transition payment calculator gives an estimate.

Free toolTransition payment calculatorThe statutory severance on dismissal or non-renewal, based on salary, holiday pay and bonus.Calculate the payment

How Can an Employee Challenge a Dismissal During Probation?

There are three statutory routes, and all of them lead to the same remedy: the subdistrict court annuls the termination or awards fair compensation. The request must be filed within two months after the contract ended.

1. The probation clause was void. Then there was no probation period, and the termination breached Article 7:671 of the Dutch Civil Code: Article 7:681 of the Dutch Civil Code (1)(a).
2. The termination breached a dismissal prohibition that still applies, such as the prohibition on dismissal because of trade union membership or because the employee took statutory leave: Article 7:681(1)(b) of the Dutch Civil Code.
3. The termination was discriminatory, or was a reaction to the employee invoking the ban on discrimination: Article 7:681(1)(c) of the Dutch Civil Code.

The two-month period of Article 7:686a of the Dutch Civil Code (4)(a) is a forfeiture period, not a limitation period: it runs from the day after the contract ended and it cannot be interrupted by a letter. The proceedings are started by a written request (verzoekschrift) to the subdistrict court. Where the employee wants to be reinstated, annulment is the remedy to ask for; where the employee does not want to return, fair compensation.

Two steps help before going to court. The first is to ask for the written reason under Article 7:676(2) of the Dutch Civil Code. The second, for discrimination, is that the Netherlands Institute for Human Rights (College voor de Rechten van de Mens) can give an opinion on whether there was discrimination. Its opinions are not binding, but they carry weight. The two-month deadline for the court has to be observed regardless.

How Does EU Law Affect Dutch Probation Periods?

Directive (EU) 2019/1152 on transparent and predictable working conditions sets an outer limit of six months for any probation period in the EU. Dutch law is considerably stricter.

Article 8(1) of the Directive provides that a probation period may not exceed six months. Article 8(2) requires the length of a probation period in a fixed-term relationship to be proportionate to the expected duration of the contract and the nature of the work, and provides that renewing a contract for the same function and tasks does not create a new probation period. Article 8(3) allows member states to permit longer periods in exceptional cases and to allow an extension for absence during the probation period. Article 4(2)(g) requires the employer to inform the employee of the duration and conditions of any probation period, which in Dutch law is Article 7:655 of the Dutch Civil Code (1)(q).

For employers used to other European systems, the practical point is the contrast: probation periods of three or six months are common elsewhere, while in the Netherlands the individual contract can never go beyond two months, and a longer clause does not give two months but none. International employers moving staff to the Netherlands should check the probation clause in their template before the first Dutch contract is signed. See also international employment contracts under Dutch law.

Model Probation Clause and Termination Letter

A valid probation clause is short. What makes it valid is its length, the moment it is agreed and the contract it sits in, not special wording.

Model clause, for a permanent contract:

Article [number]. Probation period

1. The first two months of this employment agreement are a probation period within the meaning of Article 7:652 of the Dutch Civil Code.

2. During the probation period, each party may terminate this employment agreement with immediate effect. The probation period applies equally to both parties.

For a fixed-term contract of more than six months but less than two years, replace "two months" with "one month", unless the applicable collective labour agreement allows more. Leave the clause out entirely for a contract of six months or less, for a renewal and for a new contract for the same job with the same employer. The contract has to be signed before the employee starts.

Model termination letter from the employer:

[Place], [date]

Subject: termination of your employment agreement during the probation period

Dear [name],

We refer to your employment agreement with [employer] dated [date], which provides for a probation period of [one month / two months] ending on [date].

We hereby terminate your employment agreement during the probation period with immediate effect, in accordance with Article 7:676 of the Dutch Civil Code. Your employment ends on [date].

You will receive your salary up to and including that date, together with payment for any untaken holiday, accrued holiday allowance and the transition payment, in your final settlement.

If you wish, we will give you the reason for this termination in writing.

Yours sincerely,

[Name and position]

Where terminations during probation go wrong in practice:

• The termination reached the employee after the probation period had expired.
• The probation clause was void, because it was too long, in a contract of six months or less, or in a renewal.
• The written reason, once requested, points to pregnancy, illness or another protected ground.
• The final settlement leaves out the transition payment.

These models are a starting point and not legal advice. A Dutch employment lawyer can check a clause or a termination before it is used, which is cheaper than contesting it afterwards.

Is a UWV Trial Placement the Same as a Probation Period?

No. A trial placement (proefplaatsing) is a scheme of the Dutch employee insurance agency UWV, not a clause in an employment contract.

In a trial placement, a person who receives one of several UWV benefits works for an employer on trial while keeping that benefit. According to UWV the placement lasts two months and may last no longer than six months in total, and the employer must intend to offer employment of at least six months afterwards, for the same number of hours. A probation period, by contrast, is part of an employment contract that already exists, with salary paid by the employer from the first day.

Worked Examples

Each example assumes Dutch law governs the employment contract and no collective labour agreement departs from the statutory limits.

A permanent contract. An employee starts on 1 March 2026 on a permanent contract with a two-month probation clause, signed in February. In week seven the employer ends the contract, handing over a letter in person. The termination is valid under Article 7:676 of the Dutch Civil Code. The employee can ask for the reason in writing, and is owed salary to the last day, untaken holiday and a small transition payment.

A clause that is too long. A one-year contract contains a two-month probation clause. The maximum for that contract is one month, so the clause is void in its entirety. A termination in week six, relying on the clause, is a termination without the employee's consent, without UWV permission and without a court decision. The employee can ask the court within two months to annul it or to award fair compensation under Article 7:681(1)(a) of the Dutch Civil Code, and, if the contract contained no early termination clause, can also rely on Article 7:677(4).

A renewal. An employee works on a six-month contract without a probation period, which is correct. The employer then offers a one-year contract for the same job with a one-month probation period. The new clause is void under Article 7:652(6)(b) of the Dutch Civil Code, because the new contract does not require clearly different skills or responsibilities.

A pregnancy. Three weeks into a two-month probation period, an employee tells her manager she is pregnant. Two days later the contract is ended during the probation period. The statutory ban on dismissal during pregnancy does not apply, but the timing is a fact from which discrimination can be presumed. Unless the employer can show a reason that has nothing to do with the pregnancy, the court can annul the termination or award fair compensation under Article 7:681(1)(c) of the Dutch Civil Code. The request has to be made within two months.

A letter that arrives late. A probation period ends on 30 April. The employer posts the termination letter on 30 April and it is delivered on 2 May. The declaration only took effect when it reached the employee, after the probation period had ended, so the probation route is no longer available.

Is a Dutch Probation Period Valid? A Checklist

Work through these questions in order, for the contract as it was concluded.

1. Does Dutch law govern the employment contract?
2. Is the contract permanent or fixed-term, and if fixed-term, for how long, and does it end on a calendar date?
3. Is the contract for longer than six months?
4. Is it a renewal or a new contract with the same employer, or with a successor employer? If so, does the new job clearly require different skills or responsibilities?
5. Was the probation period agreed in writing, and before the employee started?
6. Is it the same for both parties?
7. Is it within the maximum of one or two months, or, for the two cases where that is permitted, within what the applicable collective labour agreement allows?
8. If the contract is being ended: will the termination reach the employee before the probation period expires?
9. Is the reason for the termination free of any link to pregnancy, illness, disability, age, or another protected ground, and free of any link to leave, trade union membership or the other circumstances in Article 7:670(5) to (9) of the Dutch Civil Code?
10. Does the final settlement include salary, untaken holiday, holiday allowance and the transition payment?

If a probation period is about to be used, or has just been used and the employee disputes it, the two-month deadline makes it worth putting the facts to a Dutch employment lawyer promptly.

Leading Dutch Authority

Two judgments of the Supreme Court of the Netherlands shape the probation period beyond the text of the statute. Both were given under the predecessor of Article 7:652 of the Dutch Civil Code, and both are linked to the official record.

The rest of this page rests directly on the statute. The main provisions are Articles 7:652 (the probation period), 7:676 (termination during it), 7:669(7), 7:670a(2)(b) and 7:671(1)(b) (what it switches off), 7:681 and 7:686a (how to challenge a termination and within what time) and 7:673 (the transition payment) of the Dutch Civil Code, each linked above to the current text on wetten.overheid.nl.