This is flat out wrong. In bankruptcy in .nl, the uwv (a semi government agency) takes over responsibility for paying up to 13 weeks before and 6 weeks after te

This is flat out wrong. In bankruptcy in .nl, the uwv (a semi government agency) takes over responsibility for paying up to 13 weeks before and 6 weeks after termination of employment, which is usually a few days after the bankruptcy. Apart from that, wages are 'preferenced' but at the same rank as the uwv and the tax office. However, all of those come after the 'separatisten', which are creditors with a 'security right' (don't know the english term). Which means in practice (since most companies will have pawned their assets to banks for credit lines) that banks will get the most money, 'preferred creditors' some money and others nothing. So while in nl, in case of bankruptcy, most employees will get all wages and overtime they were owed, it has nothing to do with some 'near absolute preference' they supposedly have. And if you don't start bankruptcy proceedings at most say four to six weeks after you didn't get paid, there is a real chance you won't get your full wage. And this is by design, it says so in the 'parlementaire geschiedenis' of the law (record of the discussions around new laws that provide context for future interpretation) Source: have degree in Dutch law, this is elementary 'employment law', but 30 secs of googling will show that I'm not just making things up.