Counter-notice letter template after being dismissed

Your employer ended your contract with a notice period, and in the meantime you found a new job. With a counter-notice you shorten that term so you can start sooner. The law attaches a few conditions; you will find them below, together with the model.

When do you use this model?

Only use this model if your employer dismissed you with a notice period that is still running, and you have found another job. If your employer paid compensation and your contract ended at once, there is no term to shorten.

Form requirements

• An employee dismissed by the employer with a notice period may end the contract with a shortened term once they have found other employment.
• The counter-notice is given the same way as ordinary notice by the employee: in writing, with start and length, and handed over, by registered post or through a bailiff. The shortened term also starts on the Monday after the week of notification.
• A registered letter only takes effect on the third working day after the date it was sent. Every day of the week counts as a working day except Sundays and public holidays.
• How many weeks your notice period lasts depends on your seniority and on who gives notice. The model therefore leaves the term open: calculate it with the calculator and fill in the result.

The model

Fill in the fields in square brackets and delete what does not apply. You fill in the term yourself: calculate it first with the calculator. Calculate your notice period→

[First name and surname]
[Street and number]
[Postcode and town]

[Employer's name]
For the attention of [name of the manager or HR department]
[Street and number]
[Postcode and town]

[Place], [date]

Subject: counter-notice

Dear Sir or Madam,

On [date of the employer's notice] the employer ended my employment contract with a notice period. In the meantime I have found other employment.

I therefore hereby give counter-notice. The shortened notice period is [number] weeks. It starts on Monday [date of the Monday after the week of notification] and ends on [end date].

I will gladly help ensure a good handover until my last working day.

Kind regards,

[Signature]
[First name and surname]

Received by the employer (on the duplicate):
Name: [name]
Date: [date]
Signature: [signature]

Tips

• Only agree on a start date with your new employer once you know when your counter-notice ends.
• Mention the date of your employer's notice in the letter. That makes it clear straight away which dismissal your counter-notice responds to.

Which language is required?

Which language is mandatory depends on where the operating site you work at is located. In the Dutch language area it is Dutch (Flemish language decree of 19 July 1973), in the French language area it is French (decree of the French Community of 30 June 1982). Both govern the language of social relations between employer and employee.

In Brussels-Capital and in the Flemish municipalities with language facilities, the federal law on the use of languages in administrative matters applies. In Brussels, documents for staff are drawn up in Dutch or in French depending on the employee's language; in the municipalities with facilities, in Dutch.

Both decrees provide that documents contrary to the language rules are void and that the court establishes that nullity of its own motion. The Flemish decree adds that the annulment may not harm the employee. In Brussels, documents in the wrong language must be replaced.

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This is a model, not legal advice. Adapt it to your own situation; your contract, your collective agreement and your payroll provider, union or lawyer remain decisive.