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Transparent employee benefits in the EU, from 1-8-2022 also in the Netherlands!
In part to avoid competition on employee benefits within the EU, the EU Directive on Transparent and Predictable Terms of Employment was created. In the Netherlands, this was converted into national legislation as of 1 August 2022.
WHAT CHANGES FOR YOU?
The following is a brief summary:
1. Employer duty of disclosure when joining the company
The employer must disclose more information than before to new employees.
- For example, if the work is not, or not primarily, performed at a fixed place of work, the employer must disclose the places of work accordingly, or state the employee is free to choose the place of work.
- In particular for flexible workers or work schedules, additional rules on times when the work must be performed by the worker and on the identity of the hiring employer apply regarding temporary employment contracts.
- The employer must state all and any remuneration components separately. Examples are overtime, shift allowance, bonuses and any other allowances or entitlements received directly or indirectly by the employee in the context of the relevant job.
Some data must be disclosed within a week of the first day of work; others within a month of the first day of work.
Tip: As a matter of safety, we recommend communicating all terms of employment and employee benefits to the employee before signing the employment contract.
2. Employers’ duty of disclosure when terms of employment / employee benefits change
In the event of amending the terms of employment and employee benefits, the employer must notify the employee no later than the day on which the change takes effect.
3. Employee training
As an employer, any mandatory training must be offered to your employees free of charge. You must also class any time spent by the employee on such mandatory training (study, classes, exams) as work time. If this is not possible, you must compensate for mandatory training time with time in lieu or a cash allowance.
Which training does this concern?
Mandatory training is training that you are required by law or a collective bargaining agreement to provide to your employee. This generally concerns training that is necessary for the employee to perform the job, for example to (continue to) meet the requirements of professional competence.
What expenses are you required to reimburse?
All costs incurred by the employee in order to attend the training, including travel expenses, books, study materials or examination fees. This means you may not require the employee to repay the cost of mandatory training. Not even in the event where the employee fails the exam or leaves the company.
4. Ancillary activities
As an employer, you may no longer (in most cases) include a ban on ancillary work. If such a clause is important to you as an employer, state that you are entitled to prohibit ancillary work in the event of an objective justification (e.g., violation of health & safety regulations or the Working Hours Act). Please bear in mind, if you actually invoke this clause, you will have to substantiate the objective justification for not permitting the ancillary work.
5. Flexible workforce and predictable work schedule
This is not necessarily about on-call workers (their protection remains in place), but about workers with an unpredictable work rhythm (i.e., when the times at which work must be performed are determined to a large extent directly or indirectly by the employer). Two new obligations were created for this group of workers:
- Employees were already allowed to request an adjustment of working hours, working time and workplace. The new rules add the right for the employee to request more predictable employment (e.g., a permanent contract or a fixed number of weekly working hours).
- For workers with largely unpredictable work patterns, you, as the employer, must begin to establish ‘reference days’. Reference days are the days and times when the employee may be required to come to work.
The brochure below issued by the Dutch government sets out all the changes:
WHAT CAN YOU DO?
The new rules apply to both existing and new employment contracts.
So:
Check your employment contracts and templates or ask our lawyers at Interfisc Consult BV for advice.
If your employment contract refers to a Personnel Guide, employment regulations or other supplementary document in which you have laid down your employment conditions and employee benefits, please have these documents updated accordingly.
Related topics
- Publication date: 08/09/2022
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