The plan is for employees to be able to adjust their working hours easier in the future. The minister of Social Affairs at the time submitted a bill on this matter to the Lower Chamber on August 11, 2011. Consulting with the social partners it will be examined whether or not this bill requires any additions. What are the bill’s most important amendments?
The plan is for the adjusted bill to be submitted to the Lower Chamber in the third trimester of 2013. Submitting the bill to the Upper Chamber is scheduled for the first trimester of 2014. The law should then be effective by July 1, 2014.
The current bill in short:
- Amendments to the WAA (Law on working hours adjustment).
The waiting period for submitting a request is reduced from two years to one year.
Within this waiting period a new request may be put forward should any unforeseen circumstances occur.
The condition that an employee should be in service for at least one year before he or she may put forward a request is cancelled. The condition that the request should be put forward at least four months before the adjustment would be effective is cancelled. It will also be made possible to request for a temporary adjustment of the working hours. - Parental leave.
In future, employees will be able to take parental leave however the please, provided that no important company or service interests are involved.
The condition that an employee has to be employed for at least one year before being able to take parental leave is cancelled.
If the employee requests so, the former employer should inform the new employer on the remaining claim on parental leave. - Foster care leave and adoption leave.
The term in which the leave may be taken will be extended from eighteen weeks to twenty six weeks. The leave itself will be made flexible; the four week period will not have to be taken in one term. It will be able to be taken in other periods after consulting the employer. - Long term care leave.
Extending the circle of people for whom employees may take leave with those who are part of the employee’s household but are not their parent, child or partner.
Making the way in which leave is taken more flexible, the legal restrictions regarding the spreading and taking of leave will be cancelled. - Short term care leave.
Extending the circle of people for whom employees may take leave with those who are part of the employee’s household but are not their parent, child or partner. - Prolonging maternity leave in case of hospitalization.
Should the child need to stay in hospital, then the maternity leave will be prolonged. - Calamity leave and other short term leave
The bill particularly provides clarification of the current description.
The bill’s history.
This bill contains amendments to the Law on labour and care and the Law on working hour adjustments. The Law on labour and care and the Law on working hour adjustments serve to make the combination of work and other responsibilities possible. With this bill the government’s aim is to increase the scope of these laws.