By Monique Lundh
An employer on Sint Eustatius hands an employee a letter on Friday afternoon: your contract ends at the end of the month. Notice period respected, final salary paid, matter closed.
Except it often is not. Five months later a letter arrives claiming that the dismissal never took legal effect and that salary is owed for every month since. In many cases, that claim is correct.
This is the mistake I see most in my practice, and it is made by careful, well-meaning employers. The cause is nearly always the same assumption: that giving proper notice is enough. In the Caribbean Netherlands, it is not.
The permit comes first
On Bonaire, Sint Eustatius and Saba, an employer who wants to terminate an employment contract generally needs prior permission. The request goes to the Labour Affairs department of the RCN unit for Social Affairs and Employment (SZW), with the reason for the dismissal. Only once permission is granted can notice be given.
A dismissal without that permission is null and void. The employee has six months to invoke this. If they do, the contract is treated as never having ended, and the wage claim keeps growing while the employer believed the chapter was closed.
When no permit is needed
There are exceptions, and they are narrower than many employers think:
termination by mutual consent
termination during a validly agreed probation period
a fixed-term contract that ends on its agreed date
summary dismissal for an urgent reason
The last one deserves a warning. “Urgent reason” is a high bar: theft, serious misconduct, conduct that makes one more day unreasonable. It also has to be acted on and communicated immediately. An employer who waits two weeks, or who uses it for ordinary underperformance, will usually see the dismissal fail.
One situation deserves separate attention: an employee who is ill. Additional protection applies there, and I will return to it in a later column.
Three habits that prevent most problems
Ask before you act. The moment to check your position is before the letter goes out, not after the reply comes in.
Build the file. A permit request based on performance needs evidence: written warnings, evaluations, a real chance to improve. “Everyone knew it was not working” is not a file.
Consider an agreement. A properly drafted termination agreement by mutual consent is often the fastest and calmest route for both sides. It must be genuinely agreed and clearly written. A signature obtained under pressure across the desk protects no one.
And remember the severance
An employee who is dismissed through no fault of their own is generally entitled to severance pay, known as cessantia. It is regularly forgotten in the final settlement and regularly claimed afterwards.
A word for employees
If you have been dismissed and never saw a permit, do not wait. The six-month period is strict. Ask your employer or the SZW unit on your island whether permission was granted.
Why this matters on a small island
On Statia and Saba, employer and employee will keep meeting each other, at the supermarket and at church. A dismissal done correctly can end with a handshake. One done wrongly tends to end in court, with costs and bitterness on both sides that outlast the job by years.
Monique Lundh is a legal consultant and certified mediator and the founder of Columba Legal & Mediation Consultancy B.V. on St. Eustatius.
