I am not sure what the EU-wide regulations are. In NL, employees are hired per term. Meaning you have a 6-12 month contract, and if the employer wants to lay

I am not sure what the EU-wide regulations are. In NL, employees are hired per term. Meaning you have a 6-12 month contract, and if the employer wants to lay you off or fire you, he has to pay out the rest of your contract. There are some exceptions of course (1 month period at the beginning where either party can terminate, gross negligence, stealing, absence, etc). After 3 years the employee and the employer have an 'indefinite' contract. This system means that if the employer needs to reorganize, it needs to do so with some government involvement (a sort of civil court which looks at the case). Usually the employee is compensated in some way... usually based on how long the employee has worked there and how bad the financial situation is at the company. "We have lots of cash on hand but our board of directors didn't approve the budget" wouldn't go over very well with the courts, I presume. The system has it's downsides (employers are cautious to hire), but it also means that you can't just fuck around with your finances and lay-off / furlough your employees because you don't feel like making important decisions. An employer can't just shift the financial burden of bad planning to the unemployment system.