Netherlands poised to make work-from-home a legal right, says report

The new legislation comes at a time when companies worldwide struggle to bring workers back to office

As US companies struggle to entice workers back to offices, the Dutch parliament approved legislation to establish home working as a legal right, setting the Netherlands up to be one of the first countries to enshrine such flexibility in law.

Last week, the Dutch Parliament's lower house passed legislation in this regard. The European country now needs to wait for approval from the Senate.

The legislation was approved by the lower house of the bicameral parliament of the Netherlands on Tuesday. It still needs a nod from the Dutch senate before its final adoption. The law forces employers to consider employee requests to work from home as long as their professions allow it, according to media reports.

Currently, employers in the Netherlands can deny any request from workers about working from home without giving any reason. Under the new law, employers must consider all such requests and give adequate reasons for refusing them. 

 Last month, Scotland announced that its public sector workers are set to be offered a four-day work week, but in exchange for pay cuts.

The legislation will be introduced by Steven van Weyenberg, a member of pro-European D-66 Party, and Senna Maatoug, a lawmaker for the Green Party, Weyenberg told Bloomberg on Wednesday. The two will submit the proposal to parliament before the house enters summer recess on July 3.

“We have the green light for this new law thanks to the support we received from both employees and employers’ unions,” said Weyenberg. “We are very hopeful it will pass before the summer.”

“It allows them to find a better work-life balance and reduce time spent on commuting,” said Maatoug of the GroenLinks party, reported the Wall Street Journal. 

For Dutch companies, the new legislation isn't expected to be as contentious. With 14 per cent of the workforce already working remotely two years before the pandemic, according to Eurostat, the acceptance of remote working is much higher in the lowlands.

The pandemic has fuelled a shift in attitudes about work, with many workers seeking to maintain some of the flexibility they’ve experienced over the last two years. But with companies seeking to respond to surging demand as the pandemic recedes, the topic has become increasingly polarising issue. 

Some companies like Tesla still have coerced employees to return to the office. 

Last month, Tesla Chief Executive Officer Elon Musk issued an ultimatum for staff at the company to return to the office — or leave.