With the WWZ, minister Asscher added a number of new rules on those working within The Netherlands. According to Kennedy Van der Laan, it comes down to this:
• The trial period is now only possible for contracts longer than six months;
• The competition clause as a temporary contract is no longer possible;
• On the breach of the notice period there is a fine;
• The chain control of up to three contracts have been shortened to twenty four months;
• The intervals between multiple chains is extended by three months to six months;
• And with regards to severance, there is no more free choice of the route that can be legally followed.
The Front
The goal to reform the labour market is not only a legal or judicial matter. It forces employers to look critically at their HR policy, argues Has Nijssen, a partner at BDO HR Advice Consultants.
“It is now the right time to look to the front and prevent people from ending up in redundancy situations.” It starts with an inventory of how many work around you, what qualities you want, and how many people and what qualities they must possess in permanent or temporary employment.
“It is also important that your employees are sustainable in their employment. How do you guide them in a proper way so that they can develop and you will not end up in a redundancy situation?”
Sound HR policy
The urgency to get down to work extends beyond the WWZ, said Nijssen. “We see the job market changing rapidly. Where in recent years we have seen a surplus – and employers spending their budgets on training and development, where employees were happy to have a job – we now see a labour shortage.” As an employer, it is important to bend on the question of how to develop your employees and their talents so they can grow with the organisation. This requires sound HR policy that is a derivative of the overall strategy.”
File structure
It is in situations where an employer is giving an employee early retirement that sound HR policy is at its most use, Lorenz Bloem adds, a colleague of Nijssen and specialised labour lawyer. “File structures within the WWZ are more important than before was to get a dismissal through.” From his experience, he knows that employers have trouble with the file structure and want to be often supported within it. “The moment you do not have a good record, and the employee does not wish to contribute to termination of employment by mutual consent, the magistrate will not dissolve the union. In other words, you will remain as an employee. A lot is at stake because of this.”
Opportunities
For now, most HR staff break their heads over the exact content of the WWZ and especially on the consequences. According to Bloem it is not just an inconvenience, and there is reason enough to look for positives. “We are now in a maze of new rules. This is both for employers but also for us as lawyers to understand. However, as a result, you can seek out creative solutions, because many are not yet crystallised, and that offers many possibilities.”
Source: P&OActueel