Cross-Border Catch-Up: 2026 Employment Law Changes in Poland, Belgium, and the Netherlands

In this episode of our Cross-Border Catch-Up podcast series, Shirin Aboujawde (New York) and Goli Rahimi (Chicago) discuss major employment law changes in Poland, Belgium, and the Netherlands. Goli and Shirin, both of whom are members of the firm’s Cross-Border Practice Group, highlight a Polish Labor Code provision that significantly impacts how length of service is calculated, thereby affecting an employee’s statutory rights to notice of termination, severance, and paid leave. They also cover the introduction of a cap on notice periods for terminations in Belgium and the Netherlands’ Netherlands’ Clarification of Assessment of Employment Relations and Legal Presumption Act (VBAR Act), which tightens the distinction between employees and self-employed contractors.