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Ernst van Win

Ernst van Win

Mediator, Attorney at law & Partner

Employment, Employee Participation & Mediation

Ernst is recognised as an experienced consultant/mediator specialising in assisting directors and works councils of large international corporations, as well as many non-profit organisations such as orchestras, museums and provincial authorities. As a former musician himself (trumpet player), he provides advice to many in the arts. He is also a mediator to medical partnerships of professionals, based on his previous role as a dean. Ernst is regularly sought out as a business mediator and arbitrator through parties such as the Netherlands Arbitration Institute (Nederlands Arbitrage Instituut).

Education

After completing his school education at the Stedelijk Gymnasium Leiden, Ernst studied Civil Law at Leiden University and classical trumpet with the principal teacher of trumpet at The Hague Conservatory.

Career

In 1983, Ernst became an attorney alongside the eponymous Paul de Clercq, with whom he went on to form the partnership De Clercq and Van Win Lawyers in 1987. He became a registered and certified business mediator in 1996. Ernst was one of the initiators of the Grotius Employment Law specialist course and has lectured in this, as well as in rules of conduct at the Professional Law School. He joined the Supervisory Council in The Hague in 2006, in the role of ‘Leids Deken’ (Dean of Leiden). In 2009, he was elected as ‘Haags Deken’ (Dean of The Hague) and held this supervisory and administrative position until 2012. He has been a member of the Lawyers’ Conduct Review Committee, and performs various administrative and supervisory roles in the art, museum and healthcare sectors.

Ernst’s daily practice

Ernst handles matters and disputes on behalf of directors and supervisors, and provides boardroom advice on complex organisational changes. He deals with conflicts in partnerships and in behavioural and disciplinary law, and with employment and employment participation law matters, including in the art world. Ernst provides advice relating to Codes of Conduct and ethical issues.

Selected cases

Mergers of museums and orchestras

Provided advice on the employment and employment participation law aspects of proposed mergers and their finalisation.

Arbitration relating to the performance of a pension fund’s administration agreement and on a dispute involving an international partner of one of the big four accountants with his firm.

Guiding and settling of the dismissal of a director/shareholder in a rapidly growing start-up company

Negotiation and purchase of one of the oldest Rembrandts on behalf of Museum de Lakenhal in Leiden

Providing employment law guidance for professional musicians

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The latest developments

Employment, Employee Participation & Mediation

At the table as a works council? Make sure you're involved early!

24 February 2025

"What is your most important tip for works councils?" As a co-determination lawyer, I get this question regularly. My answer is always the same: make sure you're involved early. Not when all the plans are already on paper, but when there are still real choices to be made. Of course, the executive must follow the rules. Follow the Works Councils Act (WOR). Ask for advice. But those who really want to have influence need to be at the table earlier. When plans are still taking shape. When alternatives are still open. When external advisors have yet to receive their assignments. Because a works council that only wants to be involved at the advice request stage is often too late to make a real difference. Renate Vink-Dijkstra and I recently commented on a case in the JIN journal that illustrated this again.

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Employment, Employee Participation & Mediation

How strong is the protection against dismissal for whistleblowers?

13 February 2025

On February 7, 2024, the Supreme Court ruled on the protection of whistleblowers. This is the first time the Supreme Court has ruled on the Whistleblower Protection Act (Wbk). This law, among other things, stipulates that a whistleblower cannot be dismissed because of their report. But how far does that protection extend?

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Employment, Employee Participation & Mediation

Justified wage suspension?

6 February 2025

In practice, we regularly receive questions about the possibilities of imposing a wage sanction if an employee does not cooperate with their reintegration. Firstly, there is often confusion about the difference between wage suspension and wage stop, but employers also regularly wonder if a wage stop is the right route in a particular situation.

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