On 1 April 2007, the new, simplified Working Hours Act came into force, providing for less restrictive practices in relation to the length of the working day and scope of the working week. In addition, the concept of overtime has been abolished and the social partners may, within certain statutory limits, reach non-standard agreements. The act has generated mixed reactions from the social partners.
Provisions of simplified Act
The simplified Working Hours Act, which came into effect from 1 April 2007, contains fewer rules in relation to the regulation of working hours. Just four rules remain, in contrast to the previous 12 rules. These four rules provide for restrictions in relation to the maximum number of working hours as follows: a maximum of 12 hours a shift; a maximum of 60 hours a week; no more than 55 hours a week on average over a four-week period; and, for every 16-week period, no more than 48 hours a week on average. In addition, night shifts may not be longer than 10 hours a shift. Over a period of 16 weeks, the working week of an employee who regularly works night shifts may not, on average, exceed 40 hours. Moreover, employees are not permitted to work more than 36 night shifts over a 16-week period. Separate rules for overtime have been abolished.
Collective and individual agreements can be reached within this statutory framework. Whereas a 12-hour working day used to be the exception, the new legislation makes it possible for this to be introduced as standard practice, unless employers and employees reach an alternative agreement. The government has always wanted to simplify this act. While the Social and Economic Council (Sociaal-Economische Raad, SER), which was asked to issue a recommendation, supported the move, it would have preferred to retain a higher level of statutory protection (NL0503101N).
Trade union criticism
The Allied Unions (FNV Bondgenoten) is critical of the main rules stipulated under the simplified Working Hours Act. In particular, the trade union believes that standards for the maximum number of daily working hours have increased markedly. It is also concerned about doing away with the former distinction between working hours and overtime. In the absence of alternative collective agreements on working hours, employees could be engaged for 12 hours a day and 60 hours a week, without this being considered as overtime. The union believes that the standards stipulated are too broad and has opted to provide for more stringent limitations in collective agreements. It thus intends to formulate a sound definition of overtime in the collective agreement. FNV Bondgenoten has ensured that whatever the act does not regulate will be established in collective agreements. In contrast, the employers wish to make use of the new provisions on a broad scale.
Controversy over working hours in police and fire brigade
Working hours are frequently a central theme in negotiations and a cause of industrial action. Among the police force and fire brigade, two particular issues relating to working hours have been raised. In the findings of a survey published in the spring of 2007, the Labour Inspectorate (Arbeidsinspectie) concluded that the police force has not yet succeeded in adhering to the specified work and rest times. Of the 26 individual police force units, only two have managed to adhere to these rules. Infringements mainly relate to rules regarding the scope of daily rest time, while the problem of too much overtime also constitutes a significant issue.
In the first few months of 2007, the trade unions representing firefighters and the municipalities failed to reach agreement on the number of working hours in a shorter working week. As a result, industrial action followed, whereby the firefighters worked so-called ‘Sunday shifts’ in various cities. In particular, the issue of duty time has been at the centre of the dispute, more specifically in relation to whether or not these hours should count as working hours. In 2003, the European Court of Justice (ECJ) ruled that duty time does in fact count as working time in determining 48 hours a week as the maximum permissible number of working hours. This ruling remains pertinent, since the EU Member States have failed to reach agreement on a European directive on working time. The ruling also served as a guideline for the position adopted by the Dutch courts in relation to the conflict between the firefighters and the municipalities. Firefighters currently work in shifts of 54 hours a week on average, thus exceeding the 48-hour week, including duty time, as stipulated by the ECJ. In the end, agreement was reached at the start of March 2007 between the trade unions and the Association of Dutch Municipalities (Vereniging van Nederlandse Gemeenten, VNG); this agreement stipulated that the working week of firefighters on 24-hour call would be reduced from 54 to 48 hours a week, while they would retain the same salary levels.
Marianne Grünell, Hugo Sinzheimer Institute (HSI)