First of all, on behalf of Team Workx, we would like to wish everyone a happy new year. Below, you will find an overview of the expected employment law changes of 2024. We also include the important (draft) legislative proposals.
Law Changes 2024
1.Minimum Wage and Minimum Holiday Allowance Act
Currently, the minimum wage is set without taking into account the number of hours worked, resulting in equal pay for both a 40-hour and a 36-hour week. The new law addresses this inequality. From 1 January 2024, a minimum hourly wage will apply. In addition, the minimum wage will increase by 3.75%. The minimum hourly wage for workers aged 21 and above will be €13.27 gross per hour.
2. Increase in Maximum Transitional Compensation
The maximum statutory transitional compensation will be €94,000 gross in 2024 (compared to €86,000 gross in 2023). The exact amount has yet to be determined.
3. Increase in Untaxed Home Working Allowance
The untaxed home working allowance is likely to be increased from a maximum of €2.15 per day to €2.35 per day in 2024.
4. Increase in Untaxed Travel Allowance
The untaxed kilometer allowance for travel expenses will be increased from €0.21 to €0.23 per kilometer from 1 January 2024.
5. Mandatory CO2 Registration for Employers
Employers with more than 100 employees will be obliged to report on their employees’ business and commuting traffic from 1 July 2024. This is part of the Climate Accord agreements to reduce CO2 emissions.
6. Increase in State Pension Age (AOW)
The state pension age will rise from 66 years and 10 months to 67 in 2024.
Legislative Proposals
The following legislative proposals are currently before the Senate and House of Representatives. Currently, there is no information about the envisaged date of entry into force.
1. Legislative Proposal Mandating Confidential Counsellor at Ten Employees
A legislative proposal is before the Senate that would require employers with at least 10 employees to provide these employees with access to a confidential advisor. This should strengthen the position of the confidential counsellor.
2. Legislative Proposals Monitoring Equal Opportunities in Recruitment and Selection
Also before the Senate is the legislative proposal on Supervision of Equal Opportunities in Recruitment and Selection. When the legislative proposal enters into force, two existing laws will be amended: the Working Conditions Act and the Waadi. Employers with more than 25 employees will have to draw up a written procedure aimed at preventing discrimination in recruitment and selection. Employers with fewer than 25 employees must be able to explain such a procedure orally if they are audited.
3. Legislative Proposal on Equal Pay for Men and Women
A legislative proposal is before the House of Representatives under which employers will be required to prove that for equal work, equal pay is paid.
In parallel, more is happening around equal pay. In May 2023, the EU directive on pay transparency was published. Under that directive, EU companies will have to share information on how much they pay women and men for work of equal value. If the gender pay gap at their company exceeds 5%, companies must take action. The Netherlands will have to transpose this directive into national legislation within three years, so to be continued!
Draft Legislative Proposals
Finally, this year ended with some draft legislative proposals that have caused a lot of controversy. It remains to be seen whether and how these drafts will continue to take form in 2024.
1. Draft Legislative Proposal on Clarifying Assessment of Employment Relationships and Legal Presumption
As part of the labor market package presented by Minister van Gennip of Social Affairs and Employment in April 2023, the Clarification of Assessment of Employment Relationships and Legal Presumption Act was put up for internet consultation in October. The legislative proposal serves two purposes: (i) combating false self-employment, and (ii) removing ambiguity for employees and workers about their legal status. Part of the proposal is the introduction of indications of self-employment.
2. Draft Legislative Proposal on Improving Security of Flexible Workers Act
This draft proposal is also part of the labor market package mentioned above. This proposal aims to improve the security of flexible workers and reduce competitive differences between flexible and permanent labor. In this context, measures are proposed in the following areas: (i) amending the chain-of-contracts rule, (ii) strengthening the position of on-call workers, and (iii) strengthening the position of temporary agency workers.
3. Draft Legislative Proposal Reforming the Competition Clause
Finally, there is an intention to draft a draft legislative proposal to reform the non-competition clause so that it becomes clearer in advance when a non-competition clause can be included and invoked by an employer. The idea is therefore, among other things, to oblige the employer to justify the importance of the non-competition clause (also in the case of an indefinite-term contract) and to make the employer pay compensation if he holds his employee(s) to a non-competition clause.
