A new Dutch government took up office in October 2010. The cabinet embodies right-wing, liberal and confessional values, with parliamentary support from the Party for Freedom (PVV [1]) led by Geert Wilders. The cabinet is headed by Prime Minister Mark Rutte of the conservative-liberal People’s Party
The Social and Economic Council (SER [1]) issued its first recommendations on the position of the self-employed person [2] in September 2010. SER identified a 33% increase in the number of self-employed workers over the past decade: at over 675,000 people this amounted to around 9% of the national
In June 2010, the social partners in the Netherlands agreed on new regulations governing the retirement age under the General Old-Age Pensions Act (/Algemene Ouderdomswet/, AOW) and pension schemes. The Confederation of Netherlands Industry and Employers (VNO-NCW [1]), the Dutch Federation of Small
Cleaners in the Netherlands began industrial action in February 2010 with a view to seeking better pay, compensation for travel expenses, better employment conditions and language courses during working time. Negotiations on a new collective agreement for the cleaning industry had collapsed
In March 2010, self-employed workers without staff (/zelfstandigen zonder personeel/, ZZP) – known as ZZP’ers – secured a seat on the Social and Economic Council (Sociaal-Economische Raad, SER [1]). The government’s permanent advisory body, which includes employee and employer representatives as
For the social partners, the collapse of the Dutch cabinet on 22 February 2010 was neither entirely regrettable nor entirely welcome. The three parties comprising the coalition government split after the Christian Democratic Appeal (Christen Democratisch Appèl, CDA [1]) and the Christian Union
The Dutch Trade Union Federation (Federatie Nederlandse Vakbeweging, FNV [1]) and the Christian Trade Union Federation (Christelijk Nationaal Vakverbond, CNV [2]) will be mobilising against the proposal made by employers in the public sector to freeze the wages of civil servants in 2010. One-day
The problem in the Netherlands is the dominance of small-scale part-time jobs among women: three quarters of all women who work hold such a position and most of them are happy with this arrangement.
In mid-October 2009, the Dutch cabinet announced that the government coalition parties had reached agreement on raising the retirement age. Although it came as a surprise that the cabinet should table such a controversial issue at a time of economic crisis, it is now definite that the government
A proposal put forward by the CNV Services Federation (CNV Dienstenbond [1]), affiliated to the Christian Trade Union Federation (Christelijk Nationaal Vakverbond, CNV [2]), aims to increase the degree of influence enjoyed by employees in companies, including with regard to finances. As part of its