Crossborder Dispute Rules

The EU 'Brussels I-bis' regulation designates which country's court has jurisdiction in international situations. It contains specific procedural rules for employment disputes.

These are fixed procedural rules, from which employer and employee may deviate only by mutual agreement. An employer may not deliberately circumvent the procedural rules to the detriment of the employee; if it does so, the consequences can be severe. This is demonstrated by a recent ruling by the Rotterdam court, as discussed below.

Competent court if proceedings are started by employer

In an international employment dispute initiated by the employer, only the court of the employee's place of residence has jurisdiction to rule.