Collective employment law

In many sectors and industries in the Netherlands and elsewhere, trade unions and employer associations negotiate the terms and conditions applicable to all employees with each other and set out these terms in what is known as a Collective Agreement (Collectieve arbeidsovereenkomst/CAO). Collective Agreements often contain terms and conditions on areas such as annual leave days in excess to the statutory annual leave entitlement, premiums, and working hours. These terms and conditions are in addition to the minimum terms to which employees are entitled by law. Some terms may be agreed in a Collective Agreement but not in an individual employment contract. If a Collective Agreement is officially binding, all employers falling under the scope of the Collective Agreement must apply the Collective Agreement.

We can advise you on whether to apply a Collective Agreement in your organisation and will explore what options are available for making alternative arrangements to individual terms and clauses. We can also help you if you intend to negotiate your own, company-specific Collective Agreement with the trade unions.

Companies in the Netherlands that employ 50 or more people are required to establish a works council (Ondernemingsraad in Dutch), which represents the interests of the company’s employees. In making certain important decisions – such as the acquisition of other companies or the sale of one of the company’s own divisions – businesses are required to request advice or consent from the works council. The works council’s consent is required when introducing certain employee benefits, such as the implementation or modification of working-time arrangements, a job classification system, or a profit-sharing plan.  One of the works council’s main criteria when advising on or consenting to a decision is the impact the decision will have on the company’s staff.

Van Hall Arbeidsrecht is experienced in assisting and supporting both businesses and works councils in negotiation processes. If you are a business owner, we can assist you in establishing a works council and advise you on issues that require advice and/or consent. We will be pleased to share our know-how with you. We can also support works councils during meetings with the company or in preparing requests for advice and/or consent. Contact us to enquire about the options available.

What are the ramifications of mergers or acquisitions for employees of the company or organisation being acquired? Is it possible in these cases to enter into new employment contracts or amend the terms of employment? We can advise you on aligning the terms of employment of both organisations prior to or during a merger or acquisition.

Closures of companies or organisations, changes in the organisational structure, and downsizing or expansions: these are all events that result in changes to the company's workforce. It is important that the right people are assigned to the right positions, while other employees could potentially be made redundant. How do you handle this situation? What rules should you follow? Our job is to assist and support you throughout this process.

Redundancy plans are designed to mitigate the fallout from a corporate reorganisation to the extent possible and to ensure that cases are handled in a fair and equitable manner. A redundancy plan describes what measures the employer is to take on behalf of those employees who are affected by the reorganisation. This might include measures such as severance schemes, hiring the services of an outplacement firm, or setting up a redeployment programme. We can advise you on the content of a redundancy plan and assist you if you require advice or consent from your works council or need to reach agreement with the unions.