Het arbeidsrechtteam van Rutgers & Posch, bestaande uit Annemarth Hiebendaal, Dirk Jan Rutgers, Stephanie Dekker, Inge de Laat and Annemeijne Zwager, heeft recentelijk een bijdrage geleverd aan de 11e editie van de Employment Law Review. De Employment Law Review bevat een overzicht van het arbeidsrecht in in diverse landen wereldwijd. Het hoofdstuk over het Nederlands arbeidsrecht is te raadplegen via onderstaande link.
The Netherlands
Employment is regulated in the Netherlands by three main sources: legislation, collective bargaining agreements (CBAs) and individual employment contracts.
The most important employment law regulations are set forth in Book 7 of the Dutch Civil Code. Various aspects of Dutch employment law are also governed in a number of specific acts, such as the Works Council Act and the Collective Dismissal Act.
International law, in particular European Community law, is a significant influence on Dutch employment law. Under Article 153 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, the European Union issues Directives that impose minimum requirements concerning terms of employment, working conditions, and informing and consulting employees, which are generally incorporated into the local statutes. If they so wish, EU Member States may offer better protection to the employees than the Directives require.
A CBA is an agreement between one or more employers or employers’ organisations and one or more employees’ organisations that mainly or exclusively regulates terms of employment that must be observed in employment contracts. It regulates many different aspects of the employment relationship between an employer and its employees. As a general rule, in the event of inconsistencies between the provisions of an applicable CBA and the provisions of an employment contract, the CBA will prevail.
Generally, an individual contract between an employee and an employer cannot deviate from statutory employment law and CBAs to the detriment of the employee. Thus, the freedom of contract is limited. An employment contract may also regulate aspects of the employment relationship that are governed by other sources of law, provided that the agreed clauses are more favourable for the employee.
