Can an employee's poor attitude and communication
style be a reason to terminate their employment? A court in the
Netherlands has ruled it can.
Culpable behaviour by employees is clear if there is evidence of
theft, fraud or (sexual) harassment, for example. Professional
underperformance also constitutes grounds for dismissal if there is
sufficient documentation. But what if the employee substantively
performs well, but his or her attitude is predominantly negative,
or the employee is invisible or unreachable?
What about employees who do not adopt a constructive attitude,
who have a coercive and defensive way of communicating, who
regularly challenge employer authority, or criticise managers and
colleagues? In our experience, putting your finger on the problem
in these cases is no easy matter.
