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#1. Rules on flexible work keep evolving
The legislature is placing clear emphasis on greater income and scheduling certainty for workers. Whether it concerns fixed-term contracts, on-call arrangements, agency work or self-employed (freelance) arrangements, organisations will increasingly need to be able to justify why flexibility is needed and how it is structured. Although it will remain possible to work with a flexible workforce, developments and legislation in this area continue to follow one another in rapid succession.
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#2. The price of restricting employees is about to rise
If the new legislative proposal regarding the modernisation of the non-compete clause is passed, employers will be able to rely less on broad non-compete clauses, and an employer wishing to restrict an employee's choice of work after termination of employment will also have to pay a price for doing so.
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#3. Employee participation remains key to good governance
Whether it concerns reorganisations, hybrid working or cross-border decision-making, recent case law shows that employee participation remains an essential part of good corporate governance. The revised rules for European works councils underline this development and show that timely involvement of employee representation remains essential within both national and international organisations.
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#4. Early preparation required for pay transparency compliance
Although the exact effective date of the Dutch legislation implementing the Pay Transparency Directive remains uncertain, thorough and timely preparation is essential. For example, check now whether your job evaluation and classification system is objective and gender-neutral, start classifying employees into categories who perform the same work or work of equal value, and start considering how information requests will be handled internally.
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#5. Aligning reporting procedures for a safer workplace
A safe working environment remains firmly on the agenda, both for the legislature and for employers themselves. For instance, the bill on a mandatory confidential adviser is now before the Dutch Senate (Eerste Kamer). The bill on a mandatory code of conduct, by contrast, is not being pursued further, although in practice such a code of conduct remains an important part of good integrity policy. Equally important is the alignment between whistleblowing and complaints procedures: these often operate independently of one another, with the risk that reports are wrongly classified or end up in parallel processes with divergent outcomes. It is therefore worth considering whether a single joint intake point for reports could add value, so that every report reaches the right place from the very first moment.
How can we help
If you have questions about how these developments affect your business, or need guidance on flexible work, non-competes, employee participation or workplace integrity, please contact us or any member of our Employment & Pensions team.
