Monday 21 September 2020

Firms which have benefited from coronavirus face 5% pay demand: FNV

Firms which have benefited from coronavirus face 5% pay demand: FNV

The Netherlands’ biggest trade union federation FNV is to target a 5% pay rise for people in essential professions, plus those in sectors which have benefited from coronavirus, in the next round of pay talks. In sectors which have been hard hit, the focus will be on a redivision of labour and a cut in working hours, and the union will also campaign for a rise in the national minimum wage to 14%. Sectors which have profited from the crisis... More >

Freelancer organisations join forces

Freelancer organisations join forces

Four separate organisations currently lobbying on behalf of the self-employed have agreed to join forces, to strengthen their voice in The Hague. ONL, ZZP-Nederland, Zelfstandigen Bouw and SoloPartners have formed the Vereniging Zelfstandigen Nederland (VZN), an organisation with a combined membership of some 100,000, website Zip Economy said. By working together, the organisations hope to make their voice better heard in The Hague. Until now, the self-employed have been largely marginalised in debates on reforming the labour market and pension... More >

Home working needs regulating: union

A mother working from home on her laptop with her young child sitting on the table beside her.

Home working needs regulating: union

The FNV trade union plans to make regulations for working at home part of September’s round of pay and conditions talks, following a members’ survey. The government’s coronavirus regulations still require people to work from home if possible, despite suggestions this may change, and this makes regulation more important, the country’s biggest trade union federation said. ‘Now working from home is set to continue, and employers and workers have realised it can be done well, we are faced with a... More >

Payroll agency 'can't get paid twice'

Payroll agency 'can't get paid twice'

A staffing agency which claimed government help to pay workers and then charged its clients the full rate has been told by a court in Arnhem that it is being unreasonable and must stop doing so. The court said payroll company Nett Staff could not expect clients to pay 100% of the staffing costs when it has been able to claim 80% from the government under the NOW scheme to help firms through the coronavirus crisis. ‘This is not in... More >

Cabinet says no to new pay rise for nurses

Cabinet says no to new pay rise for nurses

Ministers will not implement a structural pay rise for people working in healthcare because the uncertain economic situation does not allow it, health ministers Hugo de Jonge and Tamara van Ark have told MPs in a briefing. MPs will today vote on a motion which would give nurses and support staff an extra pay increase as a reward for their hard work during the coronavirus crisis. Efforts to force a vote on the issue last week collapsed because of parliamentary... More >

Four in five people still go out to work

A mother working from home on her laptop with her young child sitting on the table beside her.

Four in five people still go out to work

Coronavirus has led to an increase in people working from home, but four in five workers cannot do so because of the limits of the job, national statistics agency CBS said on Wednesday. Some 20% of people now ‘take work home’, compared with between 10% and 15% of workers in 2019, the agency said. ‘It is easy if you are behind a desk with a computer, but that is not the case for a lot of jobs,’ chief economist Peter... More >

Fixed contracts will help seasonal workers

Fixed contracts will help seasonal workers

Fixed contracts for seasonal workers and compulsory registration of jobs agencies will result in better worker protection amid employers’ indifference, Dutch labour experts and MPs have said. This week eight workers at meat packing plant Van Rooi told broadcaster NOS they were encouraged not to report symptoms of a possible coronavirus infection and continued working because they feared losing their jobs. Some 80% of workers at Dutch slaughterhouses are seasonal workers and are employed via a jobs agency. The virus... More >

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