Fired without notice: what to do first

A dismissal that arrives without warning does two things at once: it removes your income and it starts a clock. The clock is the part people miss, because the first days are spent on the shock rather than on the paperwork.

Keep everything, in the order it arrived

Before anything else, put the documents somewhere safe: the letter or registered letter announcing the dismissal, your employment contract and any addenda, your last few payslips, and any written exchange about your performance or your hours. Screenshots of messages count. If the reason was given verbally, write down what was said and when, on the day it happened.

The reason matters. A dismissal for serious cause is treated very differently from an ordinary one, and the employer who invokes it is bound by short deadlines and a duty to state the facts precisely. A notice period that is served, bought out, or skipped entirely are three different situations with three different consequences.

The deadlines

Belgian employment procedure works with short, hard deadlines, and some of them are counted in days rather than months. A dismissal for serious cause in particular has to be notified within a few working days of the employer learning the facts, and a worker who wants to contest it is on a timetable of their own. Other claims, including outstanding pay and holiday money, have their own limits.

The practical consequence is simple: the useful moment to get advice is now, not after the last payslip arrives.

Before you sign

An employer may offer you a settlement, sometimes on the day. A settlement is a contract, and a signature on it usually closes the door on claims you have not yet counted. It is normal to say that you want to read it, and normal to ask for a day. A quick look by someone who reads these every week often changes the figure.

Where to get help

Trade union members can usually get first-line support through their union. Many household and legal-expenses insurance policies cover employment disputes, and people are frequently insured for exactly this and never look. Means-tested legal aid exists for those under certain income thresholds, arranged through the bar's legal aid office.

This page is general information about how these matters usually work in Belgium. It is not legal advice about your own case, and only a lawyer who has read your documents can give you that.