This blogpost will develop over time. I get a lot of questions about social benefits and surcharges and they are all related.
Don't worry when you get fired or your contract is terminated. If you worked for over 26 weeks during the past 36 weeks, than you can get an unemployment benefit. Make sure you inform the UWV within 1 week from your first day of unemployment.
What to do if you are unemployed? First you have to find a new job. I found that at the certain point in time quitte difficult, because I always found within a few weeks a new job, but also moved within a short time. So I started my own business in 2012 with the help of the UWV.
Make sure the UWV knows about about your plans. You need their permission to start a business while recieving an unemployment benifit. They explain a lot about this on their website. This also is the way to go if you are "arbeidsongeschikt" (sick, incapacitated or something like that) or when you are unhappy in your current job and you want to start a business besides your regular work.
The UWV can help you in many ways, but it's important to communicate with them in a clear way. They have to give you written and signed documents that will help you. If one of those documents is not right, the UWV can be a hard party to deal with.
I'll continue this blog post later. I have a meeting now.....
