Only for employees
Reorganization at the IND
Is your work changing as the IND scales up or down, 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 IND decides on asylum, residence and naturalisation and is an executive agency of the Ministry of Justice and Security. How many people it needs moves strongly with the inflow of asylum applications and with political choices about migration. The organisation therefore scales up and down. There is no announced major round of dismissals at present; the IND is in fact recruiting new staff. What does make your position sensitive is that part of the work was built up with temporary contracts during busy periods, and that case handling is being digitalised. For you it is therefore less about a classic contraction and more about whether your role remains, whether your contract is renewed and whether your position is correct.
Does this apply to you?
- Your temporary contract is ending or not being renewed
- Your team is shrinking because the inflow or the policy changes
- Your role is changing through digitalisation of case handling
- 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 IND
At the IND the core is not that there are structurally too many people, but that staffing needs move with migration policy and the inflow of applications.
An organisation that scales up and down
The IND assesses asylum applications, residence permits, including those of highly skilled migrants, and naturalisation requests. How many staff it needs for that depends strongly on how many applications come in and on political choices about migration. When inflow is high the agency recruits vigorously; if inflow falls or policy changes, the need can turn quickly. There is no announced major round of dismissals at present, and the IND is in fact looking for new people. The organisation is, however, used to scaling up and down, and that makes your position more sensitive to policy changes than at a service with a fixed, stable task.
Temporary contracts and digitalisation
Part of the work was built up in busy periods with temporary and hired staff. If such a contract ends, that is legally different from a dismissal on economic grounds. At the same time, case handling is changing through digitalisation, which means some roles change shape. For you this means: it is often not about mass dismissal, but about whether your role remains and whether your contract is continued.
Scaling up and down often happens gradually and in phases. This page describes the picture in July 2026.
In brief
- The IND is an executive agency of the Ministry of Justice and Security
- The State of the Netherlands is your formal employer
- The agency decides on asylum, residence and naturalisation
- Since the Wnra you have an employment contract and ordinary employment law applies
- Staffing needs move with inflow and policy
- No announced round of dismissals; the agency is in fact recruiting
Your work moves with the policy
What makes working at the IND distinctive is that your work is directly connected to political choices about migration. If the policy shifts or the inflow falls, that affects you sooner than at an organisation with a fixed task.
A policy-dependent workload
Your team may work overtime one year and shrink the next, depending on the number of applications and the course politics chooses. That volatility does not mean you have less protection: at the IND too, the ordinary rules on role elimination, reassignment and dismissal apply. It does mean that changes can move fast, and that it pays to know early where you stand.
Permanent, temporary or hired
Your legal position depends strongly on your contract type. With a permanent contract you have full dismissal protection; if your work runs through a temporary contract or through hiring, other rules and time limits apply. So know exactly which type of agreement you have before you agree to a proposal or a renewal.
Is your role changing or is your contract ending? Have it assessed.
Watch these points about your role
- Which type of contract you have: permanent, temporary or hired
- Whether your role is eliminated or only changes shape
- Whether an offered role is genuinely suitable
- Whether digitalisation shifts your tasks
- Whether retraining into other work is at issue
The IND as a government employer
You do not work for a company but for central government, and that determines your terms of employment and your options in a reorganization.
CAO Rijk and ordinary employment law
Your terms of employment are set out in the CAO Rijk. Since the Wnra, on 1 January 2020, you have an employment contract and ordinary employment law largely applies: dismissal on economic grounds goes through the UWV, other grounds through the subdistrict court, and 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 are still a civil servant within the meaning of the Civil Servants Act 2017, but with a normalised legal position.
Support towards other work
If your role disappears, central government has a policy to support staff towards other work, including outside the IND. Whether, and how far, that applies to you depends on the applicable collective agreement, the government schemes and the reorganization itself. That does not automatically coincide with the statutory reassignment obligation. So have it checked which roles are open to you inside and outside the IND, and on what terms.
Not sure which arrangement applies in your case? Have it clarified.
Find this out
- Which arrangement and collective agreement your role falls under
- Whether your role is eliminated, changed or continued
- Which support towards other work applies to you
- Whether reassignment outside the IND is at issue
- Whether training or retraining is offered
For international staff at the IND
The IND employs relatively many international and multilingual staff. If you work at the agency as an international yourself, some extra questions arise alongside the ordinary dismissal rules.
Dutch law applies, to you too
If you work in the Netherlands, Dutch employment law applies, regardless of your nationality. You have the same protection on role elimination, reassignment and dismissal as your Dutch colleagues. The language of your contract or of the consultation changes nothing about that.
Contract type and security
International staff more often work on a temporary or hired contract. That makes your position more vulnerable when the agency scales up and down, because an expiring temporary contract offers less protection than a permanent one. If your residence in the Netherlands is tied to your work, uncertainty about your job can weigh especially heavily. So have your contract and your position assessed in good time.
Do you work at the IND as an international and is something changing? Have your position assessed.
Watch these points as an international
- Dutch employment law applies regardless of your nationality
- Which type of contract you have and which time limits apply
- Whether your residence is tied to your employment
- That you have the same rights as your Dutch colleagues
- That you can have a proposal explained in your own language
How a reorganization at the IND unfolds
At an executive agency of central government too, role elimination on economic grounds goes through fixed steps. At each step you can have your position reviewed.
Justification and advice
The IND must make it plausible that your role is disappearing and put the intention to the works council. 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 the employer's call 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.
Expiring contracts and reassignment
In practice, when scaling down the first look is often at temporary and hired staff. In so far as dismissal of permanent employees is then at issue, the statutory rules on reassignment and reflection, among others, apply. In reassignment 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 each step there is something to do
- Ask whether your role is eliminated or only changes
- Keep your employment contract, contract history, payslips and the proposal
- Have someone check which group the reflection was applied to
- Ask which roles you are being offered inside and outside the IND
- Do not take a final decision before your position is assessed
What does this mean for you?
A reorganization at the IND follows the statutory rules for economic dismissal, supplemented by the CAO Rijk and support towards other work. On each of those points you have more room to act than it first appears.
Your work moves along
At the IND, staffing needs are connected to the inflow and to migration policy. It is therefore more often about scaling up and down than about a classic contraction, and your position can change without your job disappearing at once.
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 IND is divided and on the Dismissal Regulation.
Your compensation
If your employment ends on the IND'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 government scheme or social plan offers an additional provision, that is generally on top of it.
The settlement agreement
If you agree to leave, that is recorded in a settlement agreement, stating among other things your end date, the compensation and a final discharge on both sides. The wording in particular determines your unemployment benefit, so have the text checked before you sign.
What you can do now
If a reshaping or an expiring contract at the IND affects your work, map out your position before you agree to a renewal, another role or a departure. Those who see the consequences in time make a better choice.
- Find out which type of contract you have and which time limits go with it
- Keep your employment contract, your contract history and recent payslips
- Have the reflection recalculated if you may become redundant
- Ask whether reassignment inside or outside the IND is in view for you
- 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 your contract ending or is there a proposal for another role or a settlement agreement? Send it to us before you sign anything.
When should you involve us?
- Your temporary contract is not renewed, or renewed on different terms
- Your team shrinks through a fall in inflow or a policy change
- The IND offers you another role
- You doubt whether an offered role is really suitable
- Your response deadline is running and you want to know where you stand
Frequently asked questions
These are questions IND employees put to us in practice.
Do you have an expiring contract, an offer for another role or a settlement agreement? Have us review it.
My temporary contract is not being renewed. Can I do anything about it?
An expiring temporary contract ends in principle by operation of law, and that is legally different from a dismissal. Even so, more may be at play: there is a notification obligation, a transition payment can be due on a temporary contract too, and the chain rule can mean that a series of contracts turns into a permanent one. Have your contract history assessed.
The inflow is falling. Will I lose my job because of that?
Not as a matter of course. A lower inflow can reduce staffing needs, but that does not automatically lead to forced dismissal; the first look is often at expiring temporary contracts and natural attrition. If your role does disappear, the ordinary rules on reassignment and reflection apply. Have your position assessed as soon as something changes.
I am an international working at the IND. Does Dutch law apply to me?
Yes. If you work in the Netherlands, Dutch employment law applies regardless of your nationality, with the same protection as for your Dutch colleagues. If your residence is tied to your work, uncertainty about your job can weigh especially heavily; so have your situation assessed in good time.
My case work is being automated. Will I then become superfluous?
Digitalisation often changes the shape of a role rather than making it disappear: from handling cases yourself to checking or supervising. That is a change to your role, not an automatic dismissal. If your tasks change, have the offer assessed to see exactly what it involves.
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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