Only for employees
Reorganization at Ahold Delhaize
Is your group or head-office role at Ahold Delhaize being reviewed, or is a reorganization looming?
This page explains your position under Dutch employment law, which applies to everyone working in the Netherlands, including highly skilled migrants and international staff at the group. Ahold Delhaize is a listed group with its head office in Zaandam and a large number of brands and operating companies, in the Netherlands including Albert Heijn, Etos, Gall & Gall and bol, and alongside them store chains in the United States and the rest of Europe. If you work not in a store but in a central or supporting function, think of finance, IT, supply chain, procurement or other group functions, a reorganization raises different questions for you than for store staff. The first is almost always: which legal entity within the group is actually your employer? If you work in a store or distribution centre of Albert Heijn, see our page on reorganization at Albert Heijn.
Does this apply to you?
- Your group or head-office role is being reviewed or merged
- Your team is being centralised, outsourced or moved to another entity
- You are not sure which company is your employer
- You are being offered a move to another brand or another country
- A departure arrangement or settlement agreement is being put to you
Why employees turn to ReorgLegal
ReorgLegal specialises in reorganizations and works solely for employees, never for employers. We assess your proposal and stand beside you.
Do not wait too long. Reorganizations often come with short response deadlines. Have any proposal assessed before you agree to it.
The situation at Ahold Delhaize
Ahold Delhaize is not a single company but a group of many separate businesses under one listed holding. That changes the way a reorganization can affect you.
One group, many entities
Under the holding Koninklijke Ahold Delhaize sit numerous operating companies and brands. Group functions, supporting services and technology teams often work for the group as a whole, but are legally employed by one specific company. Anyone working at that level faces, in a reorganization, the question of which business takes the decision and whose rules apply.
Pressure on costs and a shift in technology
A large retail group continually steers on efficiency, shared services and digitalization. That can mean roles are bundled, that tasks move to a central organization, or that technology sets up the work differently. For central and supporting staff that is more often the trigger for redundancy than a store closure.
Plans, figures and arrangements around a reorganization can change over time. This page was updated in July 2026 and reflects the state of affairs as far as known at that time.
In short
- Ahold Delhaize is a listed holding with many brands
- Dutch brands include Albert Heijn, Etos, Gall & Gall and bol
- Group functions are employed by one specific company
- Here a reorganization often turns on bundling and centralisation
- Technology and shared services change the work
- First find out who within the group is your employer
Who within the group is your employer?
This is the core question at group level. Your employment contract was concluded with one legal entity, and it is precisely that entity that sets your position in a reorganization.
The holding or an operating company
Many staff say they work "at Ahold Delhaize", while their contract is in the name of a particular operating company or a brand within the group. That entity is your legal employer. It carries out the reorganization, within its organization the reflection principle is applied, and it is the party against whom you enforce your rights. The name on your payslip and in your employment contract is the starting point for this.
Why that difference counts
Which company you are employed by helps decide which terms of employment and which collective agreement, if any, apply to you, and within which business suitable work must be sought. At a group with many entities that is by no means always immediately clear, and it pays to pin it down before you respond to a proposal.
In doubt about who your employer is? Let us find out from your contract and payslip.
Where you find this
- The name of the employer at the top of your employment contract
- The company stated on your payslip
- The collective agreement or arrangement your contract refers to
- The party that signs the letter about the reorganization
Reassignment across brands and countries
At a group in particular, reassignment can have a wider reach than your own department. At the same time there are legal catches you want to know in advance.
Beyond your own unit
Before dismissal is on the table, it must be investigated whether there is a suitable position for you, if necessary after retraining and within a reasonable period. That investigation can reach beyond your own company, but not simply because a group exists. What is decisive is whether those other positions belong to the business or group for which your employer has a reassignment obligation under Article 7:669 of the Dutch Civil Code and the Dismissal Regulation. What counts as a genuine option depends on the circumstances of your case.
A move is sometimes a new employment
If you move to another brand or another operating company, in practice that can mean a new contract with a different legal entity, with possibly different terms. If it concerns a role abroad, for example at a unit in the United States, foreign employment law may apply and the Dutch protective rules do not apply as a matter of course. So have an offered move checked for what actually changes.
Are you being offered a move? Have the terms assessed before you say yes.
With a move, watch for
- Which legal entity you would then be employed by
- Whether your salary, job level and accrued rights carry over
- Which collective agreement or arrangement applies at the new entity
- Whether it concerns Dutch or foreign employment law
- What happens if you do not find the move suitable
How a reorganization at group level unfolds
At group level too a reorganization follows the statutory rules for economic dismissal. Knowing the steps tells you where something can be checked.
Decision and employee participation
A proposed reorganization goes past the works council of the business concerned, and with a group-wide intervention a central works council can come into play too. If many employees are affected at once, the rules on collective dismissal can take effect. They only oblige a notification to the UWV and consultation with the trade unions once the statutory conditions are met, in particular when the number of intended dismissals within a working area and a given period passes the statutory threshold.
Selection within which business
Who becomes redundant is not designated arbitrarily. Where positions are mutually interchangeable, at its core the reflection principle sets the order, leaving aside the statutory exceptions. Which unit and within which company that reflection is applied to follows from the organizational set-up and from the application of the Dismissal Regulation (Ontslagregeling); at a group that is a point of attention in itself, because the boundary is not a given.
From redundancy to a proposal
A declaration of redundancy is not yet a dismissal. If the reassignment investigation shows there is no suitable position, the employer usually proposes a departure via a settlement agreement, or otherwise seeks permission for dismissal from the UWV. Until that point there is something to review at nearly every step.
At every step there is something to do
- Trace which company is taking the decision
- Request the applicable arrangement and your personal proposal in writing
- Have it recalculated within which business the reflection was applied
- Ask whether reassignment was also investigated at other group parts
- Agree to no arrangement before it has been assessed
What does this mean for you?
A reorganization at group level follows the statutory rules for dismissal on business-economic grounds, supplemented by your terms of employment and any social plan. On each of those points you have more to bring than you might think.
Getting your employer clear
Which company within the group is your employer determines your terms, your collective agreement if any, and the business within which suitable work is sought. At a holding with many entities that is the first thing that must be settled before you can judge the rest.
A verifiable selection
Within interchangeable positions, at its core the reflection principle sets who becomes redundant, save for the statutory exceptions. Within which business and over which unit the calculation is made follows from the set-up of the group and the Dismissal Regulation; a wrongly drawn reflection scope can affect your position.
Reassignment with reach
Dismissal may only be on the table after it has been investigated whether there is a suitable position for you. Within a group that investigation can reach beyond your own company. An offered move to another brand or country must genuinely be suitable, and you want to know which legal entity and which law come with it.
Your compensation and agreement
If your employment ends on the employer's initiative and reassignment fails, you are usually entitled to the statutory transition payment. Where a social plan grants its own or an extra payment, it generally comes on top of that, save for a statutory exception. Have the settlement agreement checked before you sign.
Terms of employment in a fragmented group
At Ahold Delhaize the terms of employment differ per business and job group. That makes it important to know which framework applies to you.
Store, logistics or office
For the store and logistics staff of the brands, their own collective agreements apply. For central and office functions a separate arrangement may apply, or your relationship may be governed mainly by your individual employment contract. Which framework applies in your case stands or falls with the company you are employed by.
What a social plan arranges
If a social plan comes, it usually sets out how the consequences of redundancy are cushioned, from guidance towards other work to the level of a payment. Whether a social plan applies, and what has been agreed in it, is not always known in advance at a group. So request the plan that bears on your case in writing and have it worked out for you what it yields.
Unsure which framework applies to you? Have your situation assessed before you agree.
What to watch for
- Whether a collective agreement applies, and if so which one
- What is arranged in your individual employment contract
- Whether a social plan belongs to this reorganization
- The build-up and the calculation of your compensation
- Your end date and the final discharge as stated in the document
What you can do now
If a reorganization at Ahold Delhaize touches your role, make sure you know your position before you agree to anything. At group level that begins with getting the right legal facts clear.
- Trace which company within the group is your employer
- Gather your employment contract, payslip and the applicable arrangement
- Have it checked whether the reflection principle was applied within the right business
- Ask whether reassignment was investigated at other group parts
- Have a proposed move to another brand or country assessed
- With a large group at once, check whether the rules on collective dismissal apply
- Put no signature to an unchecked settlement agreement
Is there a departure proposal or a settlement agreement on the table? Let us review it before you decide for good.
When should you bring us in?
- A departure proposal or settlement agreement has landed on your desk
- Your role is being centralised, outsourced or moved
- You are not sure who within the group is your employer
- You are being offered a move to another brand or country
- Your reflection period is ticking and you want clarity quickly
Frequently asked questions
These are questions staff at group level bring to us in practice.
Do you have a departure proposal or settlement agreement from Ahold Delhaize or one of the operating companies? Let us review it.
I work "at Ahold Delhaize", but who is my employer now?
It is the company with which you concluded your employment contract, usually an operating company or a brand within the group, and not necessarily the holding. That entity carries out the reorganization and sets your terms. The name is at the top of your contract and on your payslip.
Can I be reassigned at another brand within the group?
That can be part of the reassignment investigation, which at a group can reach beyond your own company. Do note that a move to another brand is often a new employment with a different legal entity, with possibly different terms.
I am being offered a role abroad. Does Dutch law apply?
Not as a matter of course. If it concerns a unit outside the Netherlands, for example in the United States, foreign employment law may apply and the Dutch protective rules do not apply automatically. So have the terms checked legally first.
The group announces cost savings. Does that mean dismissal for me?
Not necessarily. A savings target at group level says nothing in itself about your individual role. Only when your work concretely lapses or changes do the rules on redundancy, reassignment and compensation come into view. Until then it is mainly a matter of having your position well mapped out.
Received a settlement agreement? Get a free review.
Upload your agreement and we will assess your situation, free and without obligation. On business days we respond within 1 hour. Your legal fees are usually covered by your employer.
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