Toolkit Dutch Employment Law

The Netherlands is a founding member of the European Union, but nevertheless is Dutch Employment law a kind of its own. It is hard to explain to non-Dutch citizens that it is impossible to dismiss an employee without having started a formal proceeding with the Labour Office (UWV WERKbedrijf) or the Court. Further the Netherlands is the only country in the world where an employer is mandatory obliged to pay out the salary of an ill employee for two consecutive years.
 
The above are mere examples of strict rules and regulations which make Dutch employment law complicated and unique. Dutch employment law provides employers a certain level of flexibility, where it provides employees a certain level of protection. For this reason Dutch employment law is also referred to as the Flexibility and Security Act. In addition also the Netherlands has implemented the European Union directives into the national legislation and more than 75% of all employees are working under an collective bargaining agreement.
 
Further, employers having more than 50 employees are obliged to establish a works council, an employee's representative body which has consultation and approval rights. The conclusion can only be that Dutch employment law is very challenging for everyone who has to deal with it, both from a professional and private perspective.