Netherlands · Area of law · Arbeidsrecht
Employment law in the Netherlands: published decisions
In 2025, 1,089 published decisions carry the employment law label (Arbeidsrecht) in the Netherlands, 4% more than in 2024. They come from 14 of the 19 courts, and Rechtbank Rotterdam accounts for 18% of them. Together they make up 1.7% of the decisions published that year. These counts describe published case law, not the number of cases brought.
- Published decisions in 20251,089+4% over one year
- Share of all published decisions1.7%of the 64,124 decisions of the 19 courts
- Courts with decisions14 of 1910 district courts, 3 courts of appeal, 1 highest court
- Largest countRechtbank Rotterdam196 decisions, 18% of this area
Courts publishing these decisions
The table lists the courts whose published decisions in 2025 carry the employment law label, with the number of decisions, the share of all decisions with this label and the weight of this area in each court's own published decisions.
In 2025, 1,089 published decisions carry this label, 4% more than in 2024, from 14 of the 19 courts. Rechtbank Rotterdam accounts for 196 (18%), followed by Rechtbank Midden-Nederland (150) and Rechtbank Noord-Holland (138). By level, district courts account for 88%, courts of appeal for 11% and the highest courts for 1.5%.
| Court | Level | Decisions 2025 | Share of this area | Share of the court's decisions |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rechtbank Rotterdam | District court | 196 | 18% | 4.2% |
| Rechtbank Midden-Nederland | District court | 150 | 14% | 2.9% |
| Rechtbank Noord-Holland | District court | 138 | 13% | 3.9% |
| Rechtbank Zeeland-West-Brabant | District court | 118 | 11% | 1.9% |
| Rechtbank Amsterdam | District court | 100 | 9.2% | 3.6% |
| Rechtbank Den Haag | District court | 97 | 8.9% | 0.5% |
| Rechtbank Limburg | District court | 82 | 7.5% | 5.6% |
| Rechtbank Gelderland | District court | 70 | 6.4% | 3.4% |
| Gerechtshof 's-Hertogenbosch | Court of appeal | 48 | 4.4% | 3.7% |
| Gerechtshof Den Haag | Court of appeal | 41 | 3.8% | 3.2% |
| Gerechtshof Arnhem-Leeuwarden | Court of appeal | 29 | 2.7% | 1.1% |
| Hoge Raad | Supreme Court | 16 | 1.5% | 1.6% |
| Rechtbank Noord-Nederland | District court | 2 | 0.2% | 0.2% |
| Rechtbank Oost-Brabant | District court | 2 | 0.2% | 0.2% |
Published decisions only: each court publishes a different share of its rulings, so these counts are not caseloads and cannot be compared as workloads.
Decisions year by year
This chart follows, year by year, the number of published decisions that carry the employment law label. The volume measures what is published, not the number of cases brought in the same year.
Over the period, the number of published employment law decisions went from 121 in 2013 to 1,089 in 2025. These decisions were 1.7% of all published decisions in 2025 and 0.5% in 2013.
- District courts
- Courts of appeal
- Highest courts
| Year | District courts | Courts of appeal | Highest courts | Total | Share of all decisions |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2013 | 53 | 68 | 0 | 121 | 0.5% |
| 2014 | 127 | 129 | 0 | 256 | 1% |
| 2015 | 252 | 150 | 1 | 403 | 1.6% |
| 2016 | 390 | 182 | 1 | 573 | 2.3% |
| 2017 | 451 | 248 | 0 | 699 | 2.6% |
| 2018 | 504 | 170 | 8 | 682 | 2.5% |
| 2019 | 469 | 176 | 33 | 678 | 2.4% |
| 2020 | 709 | 144 | 26 | 879 | 2.4% |
| 2021 | 639 | 170 | 20 | 829 | 2% |
| 2022 | 642 | 224 | 31 | 897 | 2% |
| 2023 | 862 | 171 | 25 | 1,058 | 2% |
| 2024 | 859 | 166 | 19 | 1,044 | 1.8% |
| 2025 | 955 | 118 | 16 | 1,089 | 1.7% |
Series start in 2013, the first year of the current court map. The series reflect what courts publish and how decisions are labelled as well as what they decide.
Related areas
Each detailed area belongs to one of three broad groups of areas of law. The table sets employment law beside the group it belongs to and the other detailed areas of that group.
Employment law decisions are 4.3% of the 25,207 published in 2025 under the civil law label. Other detailed areas of the group include family law (7,005), contract and liability law (5,818) and insolvency law (1,037).
| Area of law | Decisions 2025 | Share of the group | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Civil law | 25,207 | – | +14% |
| Employment law | 1,089 | 4.3% | +4% |
| Family law | 7,005 | 28% | +15% |
| Contract and liability law | 5,818 | 23% | +13% |
| Insolvency law | 1,037 | 4.1% | +49% |
| Civil procedure | 589 | 2.3% | −1% |
| Company law | 326 | 1.3% | −2% |
| Property law | 142 | 0.6% | −2% |
| Intellectual property law | 121 | 0.5% | −1% |
| Public procurement law | 84 | 0.3% | +25% |
| European civil law | 74 | 0.3% | +131% |
| Private international law | 65 | 0.3% | +81% |
| Competition law (civil) | 14 | under 0.1% | – |
A decision can carry several labels, so the detailed areas do not add up to the group.
Understanding these figures
What employment law covers
Employment law covers the relationship between employers and employees: employment contracts, dismissal and its compensation, pay and working time, and collective agreements. In 2025, 1,089 published decisions carried this label.
Which courts hear these cases
Employment disputes begin in the subdistrict sector of a district court. Appeals go to a court of appeal, and the Hoge Raad rules in cassation on points of law. In 2025, published decisions with this label came from 14 of the 19 courts.
A published selection
The figures count decisions published on rechtspraak.nl, the website of the Dutch judiciary, where each decision carries a European Case Law Identifier (ECLI). Courts publish only part of their rulings, and the share published differs from one court to another, from one area of law to another and from one year to the next. For employment law, the published decisions of 2025 are those counted; they are not the number of cases brought.
How areas of law are labelled
Each published decision carries one or more area-of-law labels. There are three broad groups, administrative law, civil law and public international law, and, within them, detailed areas such as tax law or family law. A decision can carry several labels, and some carry only a broad one, so the detailed areas do not add up to their group and counts for different areas cannot be added together.
Reading these figures with care
The number of published employment law decisions depends on how many cases reach the courts and on what the courts publish in this field. In 2025, Rechtbank Rotterdam alone published 18% of them, and the decisions come from 14 courts. The number of detailed area labels per published decision went from 0.46 in 2013 to 0.73 in 2025, so the evolution of a detailed area also reflects how often these labels are applied. The data hold counts only, with no outcome and no time to judgment, and no statistic can predict the outcome of a particular case.
Frequently asked questions
How many employment law decisions were published in the Netherlands in 2025?
In 2025, 1,089 decisions published on rechtspraak.nl carried the employment law label, 4% more than in 2024. They come from 14 of the 19 courts covered here and make up 1.7% of all decisions published that year.
Which Dutch courts publish employment law decisions?
In 2025, Rechtbank Rotterdam published 196 of them, followed by Rechtbank Midden-Nederland (150) and Rechtbank Noord-Holland (138). District courts account for 88% of the decisions, courts of appeal for 11% and the highest courts for 1.5%.
Has the number of published employment law decisions changed over time?
The number of published employment law decisions went from 121 in 2013 to 1,089 in 2025. Their share of all published decisions went from 0.5% in 2013 to 1.7% in 2025.
What does employment law cover?
Employment law covers the relationship between employers and employees: employment contracts, dismissal and its compensation, pay and working time, and collective agreements.
Do these figures show how many employment law cases are brought?
No. They count decisions published on rechtspraak.nl, a selection of all rulings, and a case can produce several decisions. The counts describe published case law, not the number of cases brought.