Last year, the luxury gym Saints & Stars in Amsterdam was widely reported in the news due to complaints from foreign employees. This led to labour law proceedings in which these employees requested (among other things) fair compensation for serious culpable conduct on the part of the gym. The outcome of the case can be found here:

What was the case about?

In 2025, a number of Filipino employees of a high-end gym in Amsterdam carried out cleaning work at various branches for several weeks. An inspection by the Labour Inspectorate revealed that these employees did not have work permits for the Netherlands. This prompted the Public Prosecution Service to launch a criminal investigation.

Five employees also took civil action and initiated proceedings in the subdistrict court of Amsterdam. In short, the employees' allegations boil down to the fact that they were exploited by their employer and that there was modern slavery and a toxic working atmosphere. After a few weeks, they were suddenly dismissed without full payment of their wages. They were also dependent on their employer for their accommodation, so when they lost their jobs, they also lost their homes.

The employees are asking the subdistrict court to order Saints & Stars to provide a proper final settlement showing the accrued but unpaid holiday days and payment of the outstanding salary and holiday pay, plus the statutory increase, and to pay the transition allowance, the fixed compensation, plus statutory interest, compensation pursuant to Section 7:611 of the Dutch Civil Code and/or fair compensation of €60,000 per applicant, and the costs of the proceedings.

The gym contests this and argues, among other things, that the employees presented incorrect and incomplete facts and circumstances in violation of the duty to tell the truth pursuant to Section 21 of the Dutch Code of Civil Procedure. Furthermore, Saints & Stars argues that there was no irregular termination of the employment contracts. The employment contracts with these employees were terminated because they themselves terminated them, or at least because Saints & Stars could reasonably rely on this, according to the gym.

What was the court's ruling?

The subdistrict court ruled that the employment contracts with these employees had not been terminated in a legally valid way and that their wages had not been paid in full. The court found that Saints & Stars had misled the employees in question by pretending that work permits would be arranged. According to the judge, it is also sufficiently plausible that the employees were systematically pressured by their manager, treated harshly and threatened with wage cuts or dismissal if they failed to meet the quality requirements. According to the judge, this “far exceeded the limits of careful employment practices”. The WhatsApp messages sent by the manager reveal a toxic working environment.

Not all of the employees' claims have been substantiated. For example, there is insufficient evidence to support the claim that forced labour or appalling accommodation was involved. In short, Saints & Stars acted in a seriously culpable manner, but not all of the allegations have been substantiated.

Furthermore, it was ruled that Saints & Stars had terminated the employment contracts of the employees concerned. The employees did not resign themselves. These terminations were not legally valid, as the employees did not agree to them, there was no permission from the UWV (Employee Insurance Agency) and there was no urgent reason for summary dismissal.

Conclusion: Saints & Stars must pay these employees transition payments, compensation for irregular termination, holiday pay and outstanding holiday days. Since the employer acted in a seriously culpable manner, the court also awarded fair compensation. This was set at €15,000 gross per employee. Saints & Stars was also ordered to pay the legal costs.

You can read the full judgment here.

Conclusion

This case shows that seriously culpable conduct can be costly for an employer: in addition to the transition payment, fair compensation is also due. The amount of this compensation is not determined in advance, unlike that of the transition payment. At the same time, not every case is equally clear: the answer to the question of whether an employer has behaved in a seriously culpable manner (and therefore not “simply” culpable) is not black and white. Are you an employer or employee and do you have questions about the correct way to terminate an employment contract? Or do you have other employment law questions? The employment law team at SPEE advocaten & mediation is ready to advise and assist you.