Only for employees
Reorganization at the City of Amsterdam
Is your work changing through a reshaping or a budget cut, or is there a departure proposal on the table?
This page explains your position under Dutch employment law, which applies to everyone working in the Netherlands, including highly skilled migrants and international staff. The City of Amsterdam is the largest civil-service organisation in the Netherlands, with work ranging from policy to enforcement and public-facing services at the counter. A reorganization here rarely stems from the market, but from administrative choices: a new city executive and coalition agreement, a savings task, or the reshaping and merging of departments and city districts. Digitalisation of services also shifts work. There is no announced major round of dismissals at present, but there is financial pressure on municipalities and a savings task on the organisation itself whose detail is still to come. For you it is therefore less about mass dismissal and more about whether your role returns in a new structure, and what rights you have under the Cao Gemeenten and any social statute.
Does this apply to you?
- Your department, cluster or city district is being reshaped or merged
- Your role is changing through budget cuts or digitalisation of services
- You are being reassigned or asked to take another role
- You are redundant, or you are taking it into account
- You have received a departure arrangement or settlement agreement
Why employees come to ReorgLegal
ReorgLegal specializes in reorganizations and works exclusively 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 a proposal assessed before you agree to it.
The situation at the City of Amsterdam
At the City of Amsterdam a reorganization rarely stems from the market, but from administrative choices. That determines how and when your work changes.
An administrative, not a commercial move
Unlike at a company, a reorganization at the municipality is connected to politics and policy: a new city executive and coalition agreement, a savings task, or the merging and reshaping of departments and city districts. Digitalisation of services also shifts work. There is no announced major round of dismissals at present, but the financial pressure on municipalities is real and there is a savings task on the organisation itself whose precise detail is still to come.
What that means for you
For you it is therefore often not about mass dismissal, but about whether your role returns in a new structure, whether it changes shape, and what rights you have if it does not. Because the trigger is administrative, the steps run with the budget and decision-making cycle, and the works council and any social statute play a major part.
A reshaping at the municipality often runs with the budget cycle. This page gives the picture in July 2026.
In brief
- The City of Amsterdam is your employer, the largest civil-service body in the Netherlands
- You work under the Cao Gemeenten, not the CAO Rijk
- Since the Wnra you have an employment contract and ordinary employment law applies
- Reorganizations often stem from administrative choices and budget cuts
- No announced round of dismissals; but financial pressure and a savings task
- A social statute and the works council can play a major part
Your reorganization comes from city hall
What makes a reorganization at the City of Amsterdam distinctive is that the trigger is administrative and political, not commercial. That gives you different points of leverage than at a company.
Administrative triggers
A new city executive, a coalition agreement, a savings task or the merging of departments and city districts can restructure the organisation. Your role may therefore shift, change or be eliminated, even without the municipality shrinking the way a company does. The trigger then lies in a decision, not in a disappointing market.
A formal decision-making process
Because the trigger is administrative, a reorganization usually goes through a formal process with decision-making and consultation. The intended decision is put to the works council for advice, and the process often runs with the budget cycle. That offers moments where your position and your team's can weigh in, provided you are involved in time.
Is your role changing through a reshaping? Have it assessed.
Watch these points about your role
- Whether your department, cluster or city district is being reshaped
- Whether your role is eliminated, changed or returns in the new structure
- Whether an offered role is genuinely suitable
- Whether digitalisation of services shifts your tasks
- Whether retraining into other work is at issue
The Cao Gemeenten and the social statute
You do not work for a company and not for central government, but for a municipality. That determines which collective agreement you fall under and which arrangements apply in a reorganization.
The Cao Gemeenten, not the CAO Rijk
Your terms of employment are set out in the Cao Gemeenten, the collective agreement for municipal staff. It differs from the CAO Rijk that applies to central-government staff, with its own scales and arrangements. Under the Wnra, in force since 1 January 2020, you work on the basis of an employment contract and ordinary employment law largely applies. Dismissal on economic grounds goes through the UWV and other grounds through the subdistrict court; if employment ends on the employer's initiative there is in principle a right to the statutory transition payment, unless a statutory exception applies. You remain a civil servant within the meaning of the Civil Servants Act 2017, albeit with a normalised legal position.
A social statute or social plan
If a social statute or social plan applies to the reorganization, it usually contains arrangements on reassignment, support towards other work and provisions. Whether, and in what form, such an arrangement applies to you depends on the agreements for that reorganization and on its term. Have it checked which arrangement applies in your case and what it offers you.
Not sure which arrangement applies to your situation? Have it clarified.
Find this out
- Which collective agreement and arrangement your role falls under
- Whether a social statute or plan applies to your reorganization
- Which support towards other work it contains
- Whether reassignment across the whole municipality is at issue
- Whether training or retraining is offered
How a reorganization at the City of Amsterdam unfolds
At a municipality too, role elimination on economic grounds goes through fixed steps. At each of those steps you can have your own situation weighed.
Justification and advice
The municipality must make it plausible that your role is disappearing and put the intended decision to the works council for advice. If a reorganization affects many roles in a short period, the rules on collective redundancy may come into play; they only require notification to the UWV and consultation with the unions once the statutory conditions and threshold are met.
Selection and the reflection principle
Who becomes redundant is not for the municipality to decide freely. Where roles are interchangeable, the reflection principle essentially determines the order, subject to the statutory exceptions. Which group counts as the unit follows from the structure of the organization and the Dismissal Regulation.
Reassignment within a large organisation
Before dismissal is at issue, it must be examined whether there is a suitable role for you, if necessary after training and within a reasonable period. What matters is whether those other positions belong to the company or group for which your employer has a reassignment obligation under Article 7:669 of the Dutch Civil Code and the Dismissal Regulation. At an organisation with many departments and city districts, the number of possible roles can be large.
At each step there is something to do
- Ask whether your role is eliminated or returns in the new structure
- Keep your employment contract, job description, payslips and the proposal
- Have someone check which group the reflection was applied to
- Ask which roles you are being offered within the municipality
- Do not take a final decision before your position is assessed
What does this mean for you?
A reorganization at the City of Amsterdam follows the statutory rules for economic dismissal, supplemented by the Cao Gemeenten and any social statute. On each of those points there is more to arrange than a decision from above suggests.
An administrative trigger
At the municipality a reorganization stems from administrative choices and budget cuts, not from the market. It therefore goes through a formal decision-making and consultation process, and is more often about a new structure than about mass dismissal.
A selection that can be checked
Within interchangeable roles, the reflection principle essentially determines who becomes redundant, subject to the statutory exceptions. Which unit counts depends on how the municipality is structured and on the Dismissal Regulation.
Your compensation
If your employment ends on the municipality's initiative and reassignment is not possible, there is in principle a right to the statutory transition payment, unless a statutory exception applies. If a social statute or social plan offers an additional provision, that is generally on top of it.
The settlement agreement
If you arrange your departure by mutual agreement, you record it in a settlement agreement: your end date, the compensation and the agreement that the parties owe each other nothing further. Whether you keep your unemployment benefit depends partly on how that text is drafted, so have the document checked.
What you can do now
If a reshaping or a budget cut at the City of Amsterdam affects your work, map out your position before you agree to another role or a departure. Those who understand early what a restructuring means stand stronger.
- Find out whether your role is eliminated, changed or returns in the new structure
- Keep your employment contract, job description and recent payslips
- Have the reflection recalculated if you may become redundant
- Ask whether a social statute or plan applies to your reorganization
- Ask which support and retraining are available to you
- With many roles affected, see whether collective redundancy is at issue
- Have a settlement agreement reviewed before you sign
Is there a proposal for another role or a settlement agreement? Let us look at it first before you sign.
When should you involve us?
- Your department, cluster or city district is being reshaped or merged
- You are reassigned or offered another role
- You doubt whether an offered role is really suitable
- You want to know whether a social statute offers more than the law
- Your response deadline is running and you want to know where you stand
Frequently asked questions
These are questions City of Amsterdam employees put to us in practice.
Do you have an offer for another role or a settlement agreement? Have us review it.
My department or city district is being reshaped. Do I lose my job?
Not as a matter of course. In a restructuring your role often returns in another form or in another place. If your role is eliminated, the municipality must first check whether there is a suitable role for you, if necessary after retraining. Have an offer and your position assessed.
The municipality has to make cuts. Does dismissal automatically follow?
No. A savings task does not automatically lead to forced dismissal. In practice, reorganizations often first look at natural attrition, expiring temporary contracts and reassignment. If dismissal of permanent employees is then at issue, the statutory rules on reassignment and reflection, among others, apply. Have your situation reviewed as soon as the plans take shape.
Do I fall under the CAO Rijk or the Cao Gemeenten?
As an employee of the City of Amsterdam you fall under the Cao Gemeenten, not the CAO Rijk. That determines your terms of employment. In a reorganization a social statute or social plan may also apply. Have it checked which arrangement applies in your case.
What does the works council's advice mean for me?
In a reorganization the works council has a right to advise on the intended decision. That is a collective right that can influence how a reorganization is shaped, but it does not replace the assessment of your own, individual position. For your personal situation it is wise to have that assessed separately.
Received a settlement agreement? Get a free review.
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