Montse Rodríguez Escudero

Montse Rodríguez Escudero

Mediator & Senior Associate | Attorney at law

Employment & Employee Participation & Employment, Employee Participation & Mediation

Montse Rodríguez Escudero is an experienced and motivated attorney who is always enthusiastic about helping her clients. She deals with almost all aspects of employment law, and the broad field of employment participation law, in which she specialises. She also specialises in collective labour agreement matters and transfers of undertaking.

Montse’s clients appreciate her shrewdness, commitment and solution-oriented approach. Montse is also registered as a mediator with the Netherlands Federation of Mediators (Mediatorsfederatie Nederland, MfN). Montse conducts mediations in employment relationships, for example between employees and their direct managers, between colleagues, and in cases involving employees on sick leave following a referral by an occupational physician. She also mediates in disputes involving employee participation, including collaboration issues between works councils and management, as well as between works council members. Where appropriate, she can also act as an independent facilitator. Montse conducts mediation sessions in both Dutch and English.

Education

Montse studied law at Erasmus University Rotterdam, and successfully completed the Postgraduate Course in Employment Law. She has also completed various mediation courses.

Career

In 1996, Montse was sworn in and began her career as an attorney with a large international law firm before joining De Clercq in 2005.

Montse’s daily practice

‘I assist large and medium-sized companies, HR managers, directors, managers and works councils with a variety of matters such as restructuring, reorganisation, outsourcing, transfers of undertaking and collective labour agreement issues. I also advise works councils and directors on employment participation relations in both national and international corporations. In addition to this, I deal with individual and collective dismissal processes, and sick employees. I regularly give courses and workshops in employment law and employment participation law to works councils and HR managers.

I also act as a certified MfN mediator in matters relating to collaboration within employment relationships in the broadest sense, including cases involving sick employees and referrals by occupational physicians. I also mediate in cases involving collaboration issues in employee participation, for example conflicts between works councils and their directors and/or between works council members. If desired, I also conduct mediations in English. Furthermore, I train mediators on the employment law aspects of mediation at the Centre for Conflict Management in Haarlem.'

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The latest developments

Employment, Employee Participation & Mediation

Carelessness Does Not Constitute Grounds for a Right to Be Consulted

12 October 2026

The Enterprise Chamber of the Amsterdam Court of Appeal (the “Enterprise Chamber”) delivered its ruling on 28 April 2026 in a case brought by the Temporary Works Council (the “TOR”) of the Identification and Screening of Asylum Seekers Service (Dienst Identificatie en Screening Asielzoekers, “DISA”) (ECLI:NL:GHAMS:2026:1105). The Enterprise Chamber ruled that the TOR had no right to be consulted on the decision to treat the reorganisations at DISA and the Immigration and Naturalisation Service (IND) as separate processes, without transferring personnel between them. According to the Enterprise Chamber, the decision concerned the allocation of public-law responsibilities between government services and therefore fell within the scope of the political primacy principle set out in Article 46d of the Dutch Works Councils Act (Wet op de ondernemingsraden, or WOR). Notably, however, the Enterprise Chamber described the decision-making process as “highly careless”. This finding did not lead to a different legal conclusion.

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Employment, Employee Participation & Mediation

The Self-Employment Act: When Does It Provide Legal Certainty?

8 October 2026

The government aims to provide greater certainty and clarity for self-employed professionals and their clients. To that end, on 1 October 2026, it submitted the draft Self-Employment Act (Zelfstandigenwet) for public consultation. The proposed Act seeks to answer a fundamental question: when can businesses engage self-employed professionals, and when can individuals work as self-employed professionals, with certainty that the relationship does not constitute employment? By establishing clear rules in advance, the government aims to create a safe harbour for those who meet and comply with these requirements. What exactly does the proposed Self-Employment Act entail, and what does it mean for businesses engaging self-employed professionals?

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Employment, Employee Participation & Mediation

A Camel Hunt at the Office? Don’t Forget the Works Council!

6 October 2026

Anyone who has followed the media recently will have noticed the same debate recurring: should employees be required to come into the office more often? The term “camel hunting” regularly comes up in this context. Employers are seeking to avoid a working week with two distinct “humps”, characterised by busy Tuesdays and Thursdays and near-empty offices on the other days.

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