Netherlands: Recent Developments in Dutch Collective Labour Agreements

The Minister of Social Affairs and Employment (abbreviated in Dutch as SZW) informed by parliamentary letter dated 3 July 2024 about the latest developments in collective labor agreements (CLA’s). The letter describes what the collective bargaining parties have agreed on the latest CLA’s on several current topics.

 

CLA Wage Increases

In 2023, the average collective agreement wage increase was 5.5% annually. By 2024, the CLA wage increase would have reached 7.1%. Compared to previous years, there is more diversity in wage claims, including:

• A fixed amount of wage increases for all employees;
• A percentage-based wage increases with a minimum or maximum amount;
• Price adjustment clauses, where the final wage increase depends on inflation.

Additionally, several of CLA’s explicitly include the desire of collective bargaining parties to compensate (specific groups of) employees for high inflation starting in 2022.

 

Supplementary Benefits for Disability and Unemployment

Based on Dutch employment law, employees are entitled to 70% of their wages (up to the minimum daily wage) for two years of illness. However, for 80% of employees covered by a collective bargaining agreement, the wage payment during two years of illness is higher than the statutory minimum.

 

Older Workers

Since 2013, the state pension age has gradually increased. As part of the 2019 pension agreement, temporary transitional measures have been agreed in the context of healthy working towards retirement. One of these measures is the tax exemption for early retirement schemes (RVU, abbreviated in Dutch). In 2024, nearly sixty percent of employees covered by the 100 largest collective agreements in the Netherlands will have an RVU arrangement. This is a significant increase compared to previous years.

 

Self-Employed Workers:

With regard to self-employed workers, four subjects were examined: (i) rate agreements; (ii) priority of permanent employees when scheduling shifts; (iii) ratio of permanent employees to self-employed workers, and (iiii) false self-employment. These agreements were examined in all 658 CLA’s reported to SZW.

• There have been two new rate agreements for self-employed workers since the previous report in 2023. In total, rate agreements now occur in 11 collective bargaining agreements.
• In two CLA’s, there is a provision giving priority to permanent employees in scheduling.
• Eleven CLA’s include provisions on the deployment of self-employed workers or the ratio between permanent employees and flexible workers, including self-employed workers.
• Four CLA’s address issues of false self-employment.