Open AccessThe COVID-specific Measures in the Netherlands – Do They Fit into the General Picture?
Author(s) -
Nicola Gundt
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
z problematyki prawa pracy i polityki socjalnej
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 2719-3462
pISSN - 0208-5003
DOI - 10.31261/zpppips.2021.19.07
Subject(s) - safeguarding , legislation , flexibility (engineering) , key (lock) , work (physics) , covid-19 , labour law , wage , collective bargaining , minimum wage , employability , labour economics , political science , business , economics , law and economics , public economics , law , computer science , computer security , engineering , management , medicine , mechanical engineering , nursing , disease , pathology , infectious disease (medical specialty)
This article discusses the nature of the Dutch COVID relief measures for employers concerning wage costs. The question is raised whether the ad-hoc decrees fit into the general picture of Dutch labour law and respects the two key principles (1) safeguarding employees’ income and (2) requesting employee flexibility with regard to the work in case the exact job does not exist any more or is under serious threat. The contribution finds that the emergency legislation does respect these two main principles, while judges refuse substantial modifications of wages and / or working hours on the basis of reasonableness, also upholding the key principles of employee protection.