Many life science companies rely on their employees' inventiveness to fuel their R&D and generate patents. Employees who create patentable inventions may be entitled to compensation. However, the laws in this area vary significantly across European jurisdictions. A number of substantial compensation awards have been made recently. This chapter considers the legal framework for compensating employees for patented inventions in the UK, France, Germany, The Netherlands and Belgium, whether an employee's rights to compensation can be altered contractually, and provides a checklist of considerations for those considering bringing or defending claims. This article is part of the PLC multi-jurisdictional guide to Life Sciences. For a full list of jurisdictional Q&As visit www.practicallaw.com/lifescienceshandbook.