Labor Market in Balance Act (WAB) what will change?
The Labor Market in Balance Act (in Dutch WAB) was adopted by the Parliament on 5 February 2019.
A few changes in a nutshell:
- Employees are entitled to a contract for an indefinite period after three years (or after three temporary contracts) by changing the chain provision (number of temporary contracts) from two to three years.
- Adjustment of the transition allowance calculation.
- Think of:
o The threshold period of two years before an employee is eligible for the transition allowance expires. The employee will entitled to a transition payment from the start of his employment contract.
o The actual duration of the employment contract applies to the calculation of the transition allowance. The rounding off to half years of service is canceled.
o The higher accrual of the transition allowance for employees who have been employed for more than ten years will be abolished.
- Another new feature is the introduction of the cumulation ground upon dismissal. This means that different grounds for dismissal can be combined with each other. For example, dysfunction (d-ground) and disrupted employment relationship (g-ground). If an employee is dismissed on a cumulated basis, the court may grant the employee a higher compensation up to a maximum of 150% of the transition allowance.
- Payrolling is – furthermore – discouraged by changing the rules. In the future, payroll companies will no longer be able to use a temporary employment clause and broader chain provision for payroll employees. In addition, payroll employees are entitled to the same employment conditions as employees who are employed by the employer.
- Employees with a zero-hour contract or min-max contract must be offered an indefinite contract annually. The average working time worked in the previous twelve-month period is the basis for this. In addition, there will be a call period of at least four days for the employer for the on-call worker. The collective labor agreement (CAO) can deviate from this.
- The changes in the unemployment insurance premium (WW). Employers are going to pay a low unemployment insurance premium for employees with a permanent contact and a higher premium for their flexible employees.
First Chamber’s turn now. In June the composition of the Senate changes due to the elections of 20 March last. The aim is to deal with the bill in plenary for this change of the Senate.