Minister broke employment law, says paper

Junior finance minister Jan Kees de Jager imposed ‘pre-industrial’ working conditions on staff at his software company ISM, the Volkskrant claimed on Friday.


The paper said De Jager worked against the setting up of a works council, drew up contracts with illegal clauses, banned staff from discussing their rights in working time and regularily paid pension premiums too late.
Union official Gerard van Hees told the paper that staff were forced to sign contracts taking all responsibility if they developed repetitive strain injury from keyboard work.
The paper says the allegations, contained in official documents and made in interviews, show that De Jager and his staff were involved in a far bigger conflict than was made public when he was named minister.
De Jager declined to comment. A finance ministry spokesman said the issues had been fully investigated at the time of his appointment to the cabinet.

Thank you for donating to DutchNews.nl.

We could not provide the Dutch News service, and keep it free of charge, without the generous support of our readers. Your donations allow us to report on issues you tell us matter, and provide you with a summary of the most important Dutch news each day.

Make a donation