Booking goes to court to force staff to go to the office

Website Booking.com has asked a court to order its employees to work at least two days a week in the office to settle a long-running internal dispute.

The company’s works council has refused to sign off on a change to its working conditions that would require its 7,000 staff at its head office in Amsterdam to travel in to the capital twice a week.

Booking.com issued guidance at the end of the coronavirus lockdowns in 2022 advising its staff to spend 40% of their working time in the office, but some workers still work almost entirely from home, a spokesman told the Financieele Dagblad.

Any change to working locations needs to be approved by the company’s works council (Ondernemingsraad) under Dutch law, but the council refused to endorse the plan, forcing Booking.com to take the case to court.

The company argues that homeworking is bad for teambuilding and productivity, while staff surveys indicate that most workers find it easier to collaborate with their colleagues when they are in the office.

The new rules would allow staff to choose which days they come in to work: one day to be agreed within members of a team and the other on an individual basis.

The works council has said there is no business case for compelling employees to be present in the office two days a week.