The EU Transparent and Predictable Employment Conditions seeks to ensure fair working conditions for workers in the EU by laying down rules on the provision of information and the predictability of work schedules. This will result in adding more information in Dutch employment contract.
The law, entering into force on August 1, 2022 has the general aim to make the content of the work more transparent and predictable in advance. This leads, in outline, to the following changes regarding the obligation of employers to provide information.
According to the current Dutch law (art. 7:655 BW) employers already have an obligation to give information in writing to an employee regarding the employment terms and conditions that are essential for employment. The following information is or should already be in the current employment contract templates of employers:
- Name and place of residence of the parties;
- The place or places where the work is performed;
- The employee’s position or the nature of his work;
- The type of employment contract;
- The commencement of employment;
- The duration of the employment contract;
- The holiday entitlement or the method of calculating the entitlement;
- The duration of the notice periods to be observed by the parties or the method of calculating such periods;
- The salary and the term of payment;
- The working hours per day or per week;
- Whether the employee will participate in a pension scheme or not;
- If the employee is allowed to work outside the Netherlands for a period of more than one month, the duration of that work, the accommodation, the applicability of Dutch social security legislation or a list of the bodies responsible for the implementation of this legislation, the type of money that will be paid, the allowances to which the employee is entitled and the way in which repatriation has been arranged;
- The applicable collective labour agreement or company policies and arrangement.
The obligation to provide more additional information in the employment contract is extended with:
- The place of work. If there is no fixed or main place of work, the principle is that the employee is employed at various places or is free to determine his or her place of work;
- How compensation is paid in regard to bonus, overtime and the frequency of salary and payment method;
- The terms and compensation of other types of paid leave;
- The duration and conditions of the probation period;
- The procedure of termination of the employment.
For employment contracts concluded from August 1, 2022 onwards, information must be provided within 1 week after the first day of work. The other data are provided to the employee within one month after the first day of work.
The extension also relates to future changes of information. The employer has to inform the employee, in case of changes to the above mentioned employment conditions, no later than on the day on which the change takes effect.
It is important to update your employment contract templates, when entering into a new employment contract on or after August 1, 2022.
Contact us anytime, in case you would like us to review your employment contract templates.
