Uber’s request to terminate the employment of 11 personnel at its Amsterdam-based EMEA headquarters has been denied by the Dutch Employee Insurance Agency (UWV), as the ride-hailing service has verified.

These employees previously declined an initial severance package offered during broader workforce reductions implemented by Uber earlier in the year.

In May, Uber announced significant global staff reductions, impacting approximately 15% of its employees, including roughly 200 workers in Amsterdam. The company attributed these cuts to shifts in demand resulting from the coronavirus pandemic.

According to a report published late last week by the Dutch publication NRC, Uber was prevented from dismissing these staff members because the UWV determined there was insufficient justification for the terminations.

The NRC report detailed that the Uber employees in question experienced pressure to accept the company’s severance terms. They reportedly lost access to internal systems immediately following notification of their termination through a Zoom conference and subsequently received daily notifications urging them to accept dismissal, with Uber communicating that their roles were being eliminated.

Dutch legislation mandates that employers secure UWV approval for planned redundancies. However, most of the impacted employees in this situation accepted the severance offer prior to a decision being made by the agency. Reports in the local media indicate that a significant number of those affected were expatriates, potentially lacking awareness of their employment rights under Dutch law.

We contacted Uber for comment, and a company representative provided the following statement:

Uber also communicated to us that it disagrees with the UWV’s ruling regarding the denial of permission to dismiss the 11 employees who did not accept the severance offer, and that it will assess the decision before deciding on its next steps.

The company stated that the severance packages extended to the approximately 200 affected employees encompassed at least 2.5 months of salary, continued health benefits through the end of the year, career transition and job search assistance, and additional support for employees holding Uber-sponsored visas.