State Council: new law on the inadequate labor market

The new Labor Market Act will not solve the big differences between well-protected employees on indefinite contracts and workers with much less protection. That's what the State Council, senior adviser to the government, writes in the balanced labor market bill. The government sent this to the lower house on Wednesday.

The law of Minister Wouter Koolmees (Social Affairs, D66) can at best "reduce the worst bottlenecks," the board wrote in the accompanying notice. The plans are "insufficient to create a balance in the labor market". This requires a "broader and more fundamental" approach.

Koolmees views the measures as a first step, he said Wednesday at a press conference. "We are not there yet." The minister announced rules on self-employed workers and the payment of wages for sick employees. "All of these measures together should really reduce the differences."

Koolmees also set up a committee to study the need for more fundamental adjustments of the labor market. This committee, led by Hans Borstlap, a former member of the State Council, is due to issue an opinion by November next.

Severance Pay

The intention of the law, announced in the coalition agreement, is that employers soon have an indefinite contract. distribute. This is why the fixed-term contract for employers is slightly cheaper than temporary contracts. And it's easier to fire staff.

Employees on temporary contracts enjoy increased protection, for example because they also claim severance pay. People under employment or on call also benefit from better terms and conditions of employment. For example, employees with a zero hour contract must be notified four days in advance and pay agents are entitled to the same terms and conditions of employment as permanent employees.

The Council of State criticizes the usefulness of this adjustment of salaries and contracts of custody. And even if these new rules have an effect, employers have enough means to avoid them, writes the council. For example, by having their staff work as an independent self-employed worker (self-employed).

Three-year contracts

Koolmees also wants employers to offer three successive annual contracts instead of two. It is only then that they have to give a permanent contract. In doing so, it cancels an amendment to the law of its predecessor Lodewijk Asscher (PvdA) from 2015. The State Council did not support Koolmees to further amend the rules and regulations. do not expect people to get a permanent contract through these rules.

The State Council favors the simplification of dismissal and plans to also give flexible workers the right to severance pay. Koolmees thus reduces the differences in protection between flexible workers and people on permanent contracts. This could reduce the division of labor in the labor market, says the State Council, but after these interventions, the differences remain equally important.

More than 60% of employees have a permanent contract, more than 22% have a flexible contract and almost 17% are self-employed. Fewer people are getting a permanent contract; in 2003, more than 73% of workers had an indefinite employment contract. The number of permanent contracts has increased slightly over the past six months, but according to the experts, this is only a temporary effect because the staff is very short.

Unions and employers have already expressed negative opinions about the firm's plans. "The plasters are stuck rather than structural solutions," said FNV President Han Busker, just after the presentation of the coalition agreement. Employers are also critical. They are satisfied with the new rules of dismissal, but the increased protection of flexible workers weighs heavily on the belly.