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Reorganization at Grolsch
Is your work changing through the shifting beer market or a reorganization, 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. Grolsch is the well-known brewery from Enschede and is part of the international group Asahi. It is a private company; you have an ordinary employment contract there with your own collective agreement, and there is no question of civil-service law. What makes the situation at a brewery distinctive is that it is not the factory but the market that drives the reorganization. The beer market is changing structurally: less traditional beer is being drunk, while alcohol-free and premium are growing. As a result, a reorganization affects the commercial and support roles sooner than production. Grolsch already carried out such a reorganization in 2025, aimed at a more consumer-focused organisation, while brewing continued. For you it is therefore about whether your role moves with that change, and what rights you have if it disappears.
Does this apply to you?
- Your commercial or office role is eliminated or changes
- Your work shifts through the move to alcohol-free and premium
- Your role is changing through automation in the brewery
- 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 Grolsch
At Grolsch this is not a brewery collapsing, but a company adjusting its organisation to a changing market.
A changing beer market
In the Netherlands structurally less traditional beer is being drunk, while alcohol-free and premium are in demand. For a brewery that means a different product mix and a different way of selling. In 2025 Grolsch chose to focus its organisation more on the consumer, which mainly affected the commercial and support roles. Production in Enschede continued in the meantime.
What that means for you
For you it is therefore often not about closing the brewery, but about whether your role moves with the new course, whether it changes, and what rights you have if it does not. Because the trigger lies in the market and not in your own performance, it is all the more important to have your position properly assessed.
A reorganization in a changing market can come in phases. This page reflects the picture in July 2026.
In brief
- Grolsch is the brewery from Enschede, with its only production site there
- Grolsch is part of the international group Asahi
- You have an employment contract under a Grolsch collective agreement; you are not a civil servant
- The beer market is changing: less traditional beer, more alcohol-free and premium
- A reorganization affects commercial and office roles sooner than production
- In 2025 Grolsch already carried out a reorganization, with a social plan
At a brewery the market drives the reorganization
What makes working at Grolsch distinctive is that a reorganization often comes not from the factory but from the market. That determines which roles change first.
The product changes, so the work changes
If less traditional beer is sold and more alcohol-free and premium, what is brewed and how it is sold changes. That mainly affects the commercial and support roles, from sales and marketing to the office. Production often continues, but the way the beer is brought to market shifts. If you are in that commercial part, your role can change without it being down to you.
Automation in the brewery
In brewing and packaging, automation plays a major part. That does not simply lead to fewer people, but it does change the skills required: from operating to monitoring and maintaining automated installations. A change of role is not an automatic dismissal, but it pays to know what is expected of you.
Is your role changing through the new course? Have your role assessed.
Watch these points about your role
- Whether your role is in commerce, office, engineering or production
- Whether your role is eliminated or only changes shape
- Whether the move to alcohol-free and premium affects your work
- Whether an offered role is genuinely suitable
- Whether retraining into other work is at issue
One brewery and an international group
Grolsch has one brewery in Enschede and is part of an international group. Both determine how far reassignment can reach for you.
Suitable roles are often in Enschede
Because production takes place at one location, suitable roles will in practice often be in Enschede. Which positions the employer must consider in reassignment, however, depends on the statutory reassignment obligation and the structure of the company or group; the fact that Grolsch has one Dutch brewery does not automatically mean reassignment is limited to Enschede. That makes the question of which suitable roles exist for you especially important, and it makes an offer to relocate or travel far something you should look at carefully.
Decisions at group level
As part of an international group, part of the course can be set at a higher level, for instance to reduce overlap between brands. For you, Dutch employment law then applies in full: the decision may fall elsewhere, but your rights on role elimination, reassignment and dismissal are assessed under Dutch law.
Unclear how far reassignment reaches for you? Have it clarified.
Find this out
- Which suitable roles exist for you in Enschede
- Whether an offer to relocate or travel is reasonable
- Whether reassignment within the group is also at issue
- What any social plan offers you
- Whether training or retraining is offered
How a reorganization at Grolsch unfolds
A dismissal on economic grounds goes through fixed statutory steps. At each step you can have someone check your position.
Justification and advice
Grolsch must make it plausible that your role is disappearing and put a reorganization 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
Which employee becomes redundant is not Grolsch's decision alone. 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. If a role disappears entirely, reflection matters less, but the question of whether the justification holds remains.
Reassignment at a single location
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 a company with one brewery that range is often narrower, which makes this examination all the more important.
At each step there is something to do
- Ask whether your role is eliminated or only changes
- Keep your employment contract, job description, payslips and the proposal
- Have someone check which group the reflection was applied to
- Ask which suitable roles in Enschede are open to you
- Do not take a final decision before your position is assessed
What does this mean for you?
A reorganization at Grolsch follows the statutory rules for economic dismissal, supplemented by the Grolsch collective agreement and any social plan. On each of those points you often have more room than you first think.
The market changes the work
At Grolsch a reorganization comes from the changing beer market rather than the factory. As a result the commercial and office roles are often affected first, while production continues. Your role then changes shape or disappears, not through anything you did.
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 Grolsch is structured and on the Dismissal Regulation.
Your compensation
If your employment ends on Grolsch'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 plan offers an additional provision, that is generally on top of it.
The settlement agreement
If you agree on a departure, it is recorded in a settlement agreement, setting out among other things your last working day and the compensation. Whether your unemployment benefit is preserved is tied to how that text is drafted, so have the document checked before you sign.
What you can do now
If a reorganization or the changing market affects your work, map out your position before you agree to another role or a departure. Those with a timely overview can choose with more peace of mind.
- Find out whether your role is eliminated, changed or moves with the new course
- Keep your employment contract, job description and recent payslips
- Have the reflection recalculated if you may become redundant
- Ask which suitable roles in Enschede are open to you
- Ask what any social plan offers 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 review it before you sign.
When should you involve us?
- Your commercial or office role is eliminated or changes
- You are reassigned or offered another role
- You receive an offer that means relocating or travelling far
- You doubt whether an offered role is suitable
- Your response deadline is running and you want to know where you stand
Frequently asked questions
These are questions Grolsch employees put to us in practice.
Did you receive a proposal for another role or a settlement agreement? Have us review it.
I work in production. Am I at risk in a reorganization?
At Grolsch a reorganization often comes from the market and affects the commercial and office roles sooner than brewing. It is never guaranteed, because production work too can change through automation. If something changes about your role, have it assessed exactly what the offer involves.
I am in sales or marketing. Why my department in particular?
If the beer market shifts to alcohol-free and premium, the way of selling changes and with it the commercial organisation. That is an economic reason, not a judgement about you personally. If your role disappears, the ordinary rules on reflection, reassignment and compensation apply. Have your own position reviewed.
There is only one brewery. What does that mean for reassignment?
Because production is at one location in Enschede, suitable roles will in practice often be there. How far the reassignment obligation reaches depends on the law and on the structure of the company or group, and can also lie beyond your own unit. If you receive an offer that means relocating or travelling far, have it assessed whether that is a suitable role.
Grolsch belongs to a foreign group. Does Dutch law still apply?
Yes. You work at a Dutch company and your employment contract falls under Dutch law, even though Grolsch is part of an international group. A decision may fall elsewhere, but your rights on role elimination, reassignment and dismissal are assessed under Dutch law.
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