Extension of the information obligation for employers as of August 1st this year

This is part two of a series of four articles. Earlier we wrote about the ancillary activities clause.

The extensive information obligation

At the moment, you are already obliged by law (article 7:655 of the Dutch Civil Code) to provide certain employment information to employees. For example, the name and place of residence of the parties, the position of the employee and the time of commencement of employment. This information obligation will be extended with effect from the 1st of August 2022.

What information do you have to provide and when?

In addition to this extension, the term for providing certain information will be shortened from one month to one week at the latest. It concerns the following data:

Information obligation with a period of one week

• Name and place of residence of employee and employer;
• CHANGED: The employee's place of work;
• Function of employee or nature of his work;
• The time of commencement of employment;
• The duration of the agreement, if the agreement has been concluded for a definite period of time;
• CHANGED: The salary (including the initial amount, its individual components, the method of payment and the frequency of payment);
• NEW: The duration and conditions of the probationary period;
• NEW: In case there is a predictable work pattern: the length of normal working time (by week or day, the arrangements for overtime including the compensation for this, and the arrangements about exchanging shifts or getting a different schedule);
• NEW: In case there is a unpredictable work pattern: that the working hours are variable, the number of guaranteed hours and the wages for work in addition to those guaranteed hours, the reference days and hours on which the employee can be obliged to work and until what time the employee can still be called up and until which moment the call can still be withdrawn or changed.

Information obligation with a term of one month

• Whether the employee participates in a pension scheme;
• The applicable collective labor agreement or scheme;
• Whether the employment contract concerns a temporary employment contract or payroll contract;
• NEW: In the case of a temporary employment contract: the identity of the user company;
• NEW: Whether the contract is an on-call agreement;
• CHANGED: Entitlement to vacation and all other paid leave to which the employee is entitled (such as maternity leave, parental leave, care leave, special leave);
• CHANGED: Whether work is performed abroad for more than four hours;
• NEW: Dismissal and termination procedure and notice periods that the employer and employee must follow upon termination of the employment contract;
• NEW: The right to training offered by the employer and the reimbursement of training costs;
• NEW: Insofar as the employer is responsible for this and the employee is not free to make his own choice; the identity of the social security institutions (for example the SVB).

Customize your legal documents

Existing employment contracts do not have to be amended as a result of the amendment of the law. However, employees can request missing information. You must respond to this request within one month.

Employment contracts with effect from 1 August 2022 must (possibly) be supplemented with all the data mentioned above. So adjust your terms of employment scheme and/or the personnel handbook well in time.

Not working with a staff guide yet? Then this will be our recommendation. Certain information, such as all leave schemes that are available and the dismissal and termination procedure, fit best in a personnel guide. In addition, a staff guide also immediately offers the opportunity to include a home working arrangement and a protocol for undesirable behavior.

Need help drafting a staff guide? Please contact us!