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Reorganization at Rijkswaterstaat
Is your work or your base changing through a reshaping, 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. Rijkswaterstaat manages the national roads, the main waterways and the main water system, and faces an enormous task of replacing and renovating ageing bridges, locks and tunnels. There is no major round of dismissals; rather, there is a shortage of technical staff. What is changing is the work itself: more and more objects are operated remotely from control centres, and much of the physical work is going to contractors. For you, it is therefore less about dismissal and more about where you work and on which shift, because your base and your roster can shift with such a change.
Does this apply to you?
- Your object or base is being operated remotely or closed
- Your role is changing through digitalisation or outsourcing
- You are asked to move to another base or shift
- 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 Rijkswaterstaat
At Rijkswaterstaat the pressure is not that there are too many people, but that there are too few for a task that only keeps growing. The change is in how the work is done.
A growing task, not a round of dismissals
Many post-war bridges, locks and tunnels are due for replacement or renovation, and the climate calls for adaptations to the water system. That work is increasing rather than decreasing. There is therefore no announced round of dismissals; for technical roles there is in fact a shortage. Stories going round about major shrinkage often concern how the work is changing, not mass dismissal.
The work is shifting
Rijkswaterstaat increasingly operates bridges and locks remotely from central control centres, and leaves much of the physical work to market parties. Your role may therefore change shape: from doing the work yourself to operating it remotely, or from carrying it out to supervising contractors. That can affect your base and your shift, even without your job disappearing.
A reshaping often proceeds step by step. This page is from July 2026 and describes the picture at that time.
In brief
- Rijkswaterstaat is an executive agency of the Ministry of Infrastructure and Water Management
- The State of the Netherlands is your formal employer
- More than ten thousand staff, spread across the whole country
- A major replacement and renovation task, not shrinkage
- Remote operation and outsourcing are changing the work
- For technical roles there is a shortage rather than a surplus
Your base and your shift count
What makes the work at Rijkswaterstaat distinctive is that it is often tied to a place and to a roster. A lock, a bridge or a traffic control centre is a physical location that runs day and night. If something changes there, it affects you concretely.
Object-bound work and remote operation
If an object is operated remotely from now on, or a base closes, your work there disappears, but not necessarily your job. Often the work moves to a control centre or another base. The question is then how far that new place is from you and whether that is reasonable, given your travel time and your personal circumstances.
Shift work and irregular-hours allowances
Many employees work irregular shifts, with the allowances that go with them. If your role or roster changes, those allowances may change, and that affects your income apart from your salary scale. Have it calculated in advance what a new role or base means for your total pay.
Are you being offered another base or shift? Have it assessed.
Watch these points about your role
- Whether your object or base is being operated remotely
- How much further a new base is for you
- What happens to your shift and irregular-hours allowances
- Whether an offered role is genuinely suitable
- Whether retraining into new work is at issue
CAO Rijk and support towards other work
You do not work for a company but for central government, and that determines your terms of employment and your options in a reorganization.
The CAO Rijk and your allowances
Your terms of employment are set out in the CAO Rijk. For Rijkswaterstaat one point matters especially: a large share of staff work in shifts and receive irregular-hours allowances. Those allowances are part of your pay, and a change of role or roster can directly affect them.
Reassignment and support
If your role disappears, central government has a policy to support staff towards other work. 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 come into view for you and on what terms.
Unclear which arrangement applies to you? Have it clarified.
Find this out
- Whether your role is eliminated, changed or moved
- Which base and travel time count as reasonable
- What happens to your allowances and roster
- Which support towards other work applies to you
- Whether training or retraining is offered
How a reorganization at Rijkswaterstaat unfolds
At an executive agency of central government too, a dismissal on economic grounds goes through fixed steps. At each of those steps you can have someone look on.
Justification and advice
Rijkswaterstaat 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
Who becomes redundant is not for the employer 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 and can differ per unit and base.
Reassignment at a dispersed organization
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 organization with many locations, the distance to an offered role also plays a part.
At each step there is something to do
- Ask whether only your base or also your role is disappearing
- Keep your employment contract, rosters, payslips and the proposal
- Have someone check which group the reflection was applied to
- Ask which bases and roles you are being offered
- Do not take a final decision before your position is assessed
What does this mean for you?
A reorganization at Rijkswaterstaat follows the statutory rules for economic dismissal, supplemented by the CAO Rijk and support towards other work. On each of those points there is more to arrange than it seems.
More change than dismissal
At Rijkswaterstaat your role changes or moves more often than it disappears. Digitalisation and outsourcing shift the work, and with the shortage of technical staff forced dismissal is less likely than reassignment or retraining.
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 Rijkswaterstaat is divided into units and bases.
Your compensation
If your employment ends on Rijkswaterstaat'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 settle your departure by mutual consent, you set it down in a settlement agreement. It states your last working day, the compensation and the agreement that neither side has any further claims. The wording bears on whether you keep your unemployment benefit, so have the document checked.
What you can do now
If a reshaping at Rijkswaterstaat affects your work, map out your position before you agree to another base or role. Those who know the consequences early can choose better.
- Find out whether your role is eliminated, changed or moved elsewhere
- Keep your employment contract, roster data and recent payslips
- Have the reflection recalculated if you may become redundant
- Work out the effect of a new base on travel time and allowances
- 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, a base or a settlement agreement? Put it to us before you sign.
When should you involve us?
- Rijkswaterstaat offers you another base or role
- Your object or base is being operated remotely or closed
- You fear losing allowances or facing a longer commute
- You doubt whether an offered role is really suitable
- Your response deadline is running and you want to know where you stand first
Frequently asked questions
These are questions Rijkswaterstaat employees put to us in practice.
Do you have an offer for another role or base, or a settlement agreement? Have us review it.
My lock or bridge will now be operated remotely. Do I lose my job?
Not as a matter of course. Often the work moves to a control centre or another base and you are offered a role there. If your role does disappear, it must first be examined whether there is a suitable role for you, if necessary after retraining. Have an offer and the travel distance assessed.
What happens to my irregular-hours allowances in another role?
That depends on the new role and the new roster. If you work fewer or different irregular hours, your allowances may fall, even at the same salary. Sometimes an arrangement provides for a phase-out or compensation. Have someone calculate what a change means for your total income.
I am a technician or engineer. Do I stand stronger in a reorganization?
For many technical roles at Rijkswaterstaat there is in fact a shortage. That makes forced dismissal less likely and the chance of reassignment or retraining greater. It is never guaranteed, so have your situation assessed as soon as something changes.
More and more work is going to contractors. What does that mean for me?
If physical work is outsourced, your role often shifts from doing the work yourself to supervising and checking market parties. That is a change of role, not automatic dismissal. If your tasks, your base or your pay 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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