Caroline Mehlem

Caroline Mehlem

Senior Associate | Attorney at law

Employment & Employee Participation

Caroline has considerable experience in guiding medium-sized to large national and international enterprises in every aspect of employment law, from individual dismissals and legal scans to complex reorganisations and company acquisitions. She also assists many educational institutions ranging from school districts to universities. In addition to ‘regular’ employment law, she also has a special interest in cross-border employment and education law.

Caroline is a highly motivated attorney who takes a solution-oriented approach underpinned by her strong interpersonal and decisive qualities. Her commitment, expertise and clarity inspire trust among her clients and colleagues. Caroline is French in origin and also has German, Spanish and English roots, making her multilingual – something which is of great practical benefit.

Education

Caroline studied Dutch law at Leiden University, majoring in International Law.

Career

Caroline has worked at De Clercq as an attorney since 2003, with a broad focus on employment law. She puts her multilingual background and international interest to good use in advising numerous international clients. She specialises in Education Law and Employment Law from a European perspective, and has completed mediation training, which also serves her practice well. As well as being an attorney, Caroline is a board member with the Technolab Leiden Foundation.

Caroline’s daily practice

On an almost daily basis, Caroline deals with matters such as individual dismissals, reorganisations, working remotely from abroad, expatriates, unacceptable behaviour and the investigation of this, and disability in the workplace. She also provides advice to companies at the policy level. Caroline acts as in-house counsel for a variety of companies, and values the opportunity to get to know her clients well. This often leads to fruitful collaborations that last for many years. The same applies to the educational institutions with which Caroline has long-term involvements with respect to employment law matters.

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The latest developments

Employment, Employee Participation & Mediation

Reorganising Despite Negative Works Council Advice: How Far Does Management Discretion Extend?

24 July 2026

A management board decides to implement a reorganisation, despite the works council (OR) having issued a negative opinion. The management board nevertheless intends to proceed with the decision. How far does its discretion to organise the company extend? A recent decision by the Enterprise Chamber of the Amsterdam Court of Appeal (OK) shows that this discretion is broad, provided that the management board follows the employee participation process carefully and provides a sound justification for its decision.

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Employment, Employee Participation & Mediation

The Act Implementing the Revised EU Directive on European Works Councils: What Will Change for the European Works Councils of Multinational Companies?

13 July 2026

Multinational companies with a European Works Council (EWC) are facing significant changes. On 26 November 2025, Directive (EU) 2025/2450—the revised European Works Council Directive—was adopted. EU Member States must transpose the Directive into their national legislation by 1 January 2028. In the Netherlands, this will be achieved through the Act Implementing the Revised EU Directive on European Works Councils, which amends the Dutch European Works Councils Act (Wet op de Europese ondernemingsraden (WEOR)) and introduces a limited amendment to the Economic Offences Act (Wet op de economische delicten (WED)). Below, we outline the key changes introduced by the proposed legislation.

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Employment, Employee Participation & Mediation

The More Security for Flexible Workers Act Has Been Adopted: What Will Change for Employers?

9 July 2026

On 7 July 2026, the Dutch Senate approved the More Security for Flexible Workers Act (Wet meer zekerheid flexwerkers). The new legislation is intended to provide employees with flexible employment contracts with greater certainty regarding their work, income, and working hours. The Act addresses four key areas: on-call contracts, fixed-term employment contracts, temporary agency work phases, and the employment conditions of temporary agency workers.

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