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Dismissal letter from employer
Hi all,
I have received a dismissal letter from my employer in Brussels, starting from 1.5.2020. The notice period is 7 months, so I could leave on the end of the year. In the meantime I found a new job and could start from 1.8. Do you know if I could leave my current job without waiting the whole period of 7 months?
Thanks!
Don’t ask us, ask your employer. It’s all negotiable.
In theory they will be happy for you to leave now, but don’t expect to be paid once you leave.
If you are going to work for a competitor who would benefit from your knowledge, then they will probably insist you stay. Or they send you home and continue to pay you but you cannot leave.
Or you ask to leave now but with, for example, 3 months pay. Win for both sides.
There are all sorts of rules regarding dismissal, your rights, employers' anti competition rights etc. From what you say, your employer is honouring your notice period which is a good start. Legal battles tend to make lawyers rich and are generally won by the employer who has deeper products.
But all the rules are irrelevant if you can make a deal where you both get what you want. If you can find a mutually satisfactory agreement, you both win. They pay out less, you get to leave. And leaving on good terms with an employer is always advisable in case you need references in the future.
Actually if you have been made redundant by the employer you have the right to give a counter notice under a special rule called contre-préavis during your notice period and your employer can’t refuse. The length of the notice period you’ll be obliged to work depends on the length of your employment, but is max. 4 weeks (counting from Monday following the date you deliver your contre-préavis notice to your employer).
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Note that if you leave via this procedure you will be seen as resigned by the unemployment rules, so will have a long waiting period before accessing unemployment benefits (should something go wrong with the new job),M. More info in here: https://www.securex.eu/lex-go.nsf/vwFicheByCategory_fr/C507CE5A2A305066C...
