Centrally-agreed pay deals in the Netherlands last year included an average salary rise of 1.8%, the highest increase in six years, national statistics office CBS confirmed on Tuesday. This was considerably more than the annual rate of inflation, which stood at 0.3% in 2016. Around four in five Dutch workers are covered by a sector-wide pay and conditions deal (CAO), worked out in negotiations between unions and employers. The biggest pay rise, 3.4%, went to civil servants, whose pay had been frozen for several years due to government austerity measures. Pay in the construction, trade and transport sectors all rose by at least 2%. At the bottom of the pile were people working in agriculture, fishing and financial services, whose pay rose less than 1%. More >
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Unemployment is lowest in six years
Unemployment in the Netherlands fell to 4.9% in June, the lowest level since the summer of 2011, the national statistics office CBS said on Thursday. Jobless numbers have fallen by an average 5,000 a month for the past three months, reaching 446,000 in June. The number of people in paid employment increased by an average 11,000 a month in the same period, the CBS added. Job centre UWV said 372,000 people were receiving unemployment benefit at end-June. The unemployment rate for the under-25ss was 8.9% at the end of the 2017 second quarter, down from 9.5% six years earlier. However, joblessness among those aged 45 and older was higher at at 4.7% compared with 4.1% in 2011. The number of unemployed declined because more people found jobs than lost them, the CBS explained. In June 118,000 were in paid employment who had been jobless three months earlier. More >
Unpaid overtime generates €20bn: FNV
If unpaid overtime work carried out by the seven million employed in the Netherlands were converted into full-time jobs, unemployment would be cut by half, the FNV, the country's largest trade union, said on Tuesday. The FNV said employers receive an annual €20bn 'gift' from their staff in the form of unpaid overtime and that would translate into 300,000 extra full-time jobs. The FNV carried out its survey jointly with the Dutch institute for applied research TNO. Employees in the Netherlands average three hours a week in unpaid overtime work which expressed in money terms is worth €3,200 a year. The figure is even higher for the better educated but less educated workers tend to be compensated for their overtime work, the report said. More >
