Opvolgend werkgeverschap

Successive employers arise where an employee transfers to another employer while the nature of the work and the employment relationship remain essentially unchanged. This is provided for in Article 7:668a of the Dutch Civil Code and is intended to prevent employers from circumventing the successive fixed-term contract rules by formally placing the employee with a different legal entity.

The provision is relevant because periods of service with the previous and new employer are aggregated for the purpose of calculating the maximum duration or the permitted number of contracts in the chain. As a result, an indefinite-term contract may arise earlier than would be the case if the employers were regarded as entirely independent.

In practice, successive employers commonly arise in the context of outsourcing, acquisitions, restarts following insolvency, or where an employee moves from a temporary employment agency or secondment firm to the end client.