van het Kaar, Robbert
Dutch pension funds face serious challenges
01 Mai 2011
The Netherlands has a relatively well-established second pillar pension
sector. Second pillar pensions supplement the basic state pension available
to all Dutch Residents over 65. They are built up as part of the terms of an
individual’s employment. More than 90% of all employees participate in the
second pillar. At the end of 2010, the capital base of around 600 pension
funds totalled €831 billion. The sector consists of industry-wide funds,
company pension funds (especially for bigger companies) and so-called insured
schemes placed with an insurance company. Employer and union representatives
manage the industry-wide pension funds jointly. With respect to company
pension funds and insured schemes, employees have a voice through the works
council.
Pension fund reserves hard hit by economic crisis
12 Juuli 2009
Within the European Union (EU [1]), the Netherlands has the most extensive
occupational pension fund system. Funded pension schemes cover about 91% of
the workforce, representing a total value of approximately €578 billion at
an average of €80,000 a household.
[1] http://www.europa.eu
Court inquiry into equity fund practices in publishing group
08 Mai 2008
PCM Uitgevers NV [1] (PCM Publishers) is one of the largest publishing and
printing companies in the Dutch language region. The company primarily
publishes daily newspapers – including de Volkskrant [2], NRC Handelsblad
[3] and Trouw [4] – along with magazines, freesheets, trade books and
educational publications. Until 2004, PCM Publishers were owned by separate
foundations, of which Stichting Democratie en Media (SDM) was the most
influential as the majority stakeholder in the company. In November 2003, PCM
and its shareholders reached a decision to look for a financially sound
partner to further expand its market position in the publishing industry
through acquisitions. The decision was supported by PCM’s board of
supervisory directors, its central works council and the editorial boards of
its newspapers.
[1] http://www.pcmuitgevers.nl/
[2] http://www.volkskrant.nl/
[3] http://www.nrc.nl/
[4] http://www.trouw.nl/
Telework in the Netherlands
29 Aprill 2008
Article 2 of the 2002 European framework agreement on telework (107Kb PDF)
[1] has defined telework [2] as follows:
[1] http://ec.europa.eu/employment_social/social_dialogue/docs/300_20020716_agreement_telework_en.pdf
[2] www.eurofound.europa.eu/ef/observatories/eurwork/industrial-relations-dictionary/telework
Social partners divided on issue of employee rights in listed companies
31 Märts 2008
On 15 February 2008, the Social and Economic Council (Sociaal Economische
Raad, SER [1]) issued a recommendation on the position of employees in listed
companies in the Netherlands. The SER consists of representatives of employer
organisations, trade union federations and independent members.
Traditionally, responses to recommendations on co-determination [2] have been
divided and thus this latest case was no exception. A remarkable feature of
the most recent recommendation is that representatives of shareholders –
who are not members of the SER – took part in the discussions.
[1] http://www.ser.nl/
[2] www.eurofound.europa.eu/ef/observatories/eurwork/industrial-relations-dictionary/co-determination
Crackdown on breaches of minimum wage law
16 September 2007
With effect from 4 May 2007, the Minimum Wage and Minimum Holiday Allowance
Act (/Wet minimumloon en minimum vakantiebijslag/, WML (in Dutch) [1]) has
been amended with the objective of improving compliance with the Act. The
Labour Inspectorate (Arbeidsinspectie [2]), which forms part of the Dutch
Ministry of Social Affairs and Employment (Ministerie van Sociale Zaken en
Werkgelegenheid, SZW [3]), now has the authority to impose fines on employers
who pay their employees less than the statutory national minimum wage.
[1] http://www.arbeidsrechter.nl/w/wml.htm
[2] http://www.arbeidsinspectie.nl/
[3] http://www.minszw.nl/
Court ruling on dispute over shareholder powers in aviation company
18 Märts 2007
Stork NV [1] is mainly active in the area of aviation and space travel, as
well as food systems and technical services. The company is listed on the
Amsterdam stock exchange and employs approximately 12,400 people, of whom
9,000 work in the Netherlands. The activities of Stork are currently spread
across four divisions.
[1] http://www.stork.com/page.html?ch=DEF&id=43
Court rules against introducing minimum wage for 13–14-year-olds
18 Märts 2007
On 10 November 2006, the Dutch Court of Appeal rejected an application by the
Dutch Trade Union Federation (Federatie Nederlandse Vakbeweging, FNV [1]) and
the Christian Trade Union Federation (Christelijk Nationaal Vakverbond, CNV
[2]). The unions had demanded a statutory minimum wage for young workers, but
the court ruled that adolescents aged 13 or 14 years do not have a right to a
statutory minimum wage.
[1] http://www.fnv.nl/
[2] http://www.cnv.nl/
Social partners and social security systems
12 Märts 2007
The unemployment benefit systems were established at quite different times in the various European countries. In the new Member States, these systems are a fairly recent phenomenon. In some countries, the role of employees and employers in the system has remained of major importance, while in others this function has partly or fully been taken over by the state. This comparative study examines the different forms of unemployment benefit systems, the degree of social partner involvement in various countries, and the consequences of these forms of involvement. The study covers 13 of the 15 ‘old’ EU Member States except Portugal and Luxembourg, as well as a sample of the new Member States – Cyprus, Hungary, Malta, Poland, Slovakia and Slovenia – and also includes Norway.
Sectoral collective agreement signed without support of largest unions
05 Veebruar 2006
In the Netherlands, sector-wide collective agreements are usually concluded
by all the trade unions affiliated to the three main federations. However, in
December 2005 , this pattern was broken in the hotel, restaurant and catering
industry, where an agreement was signed only by the union for managerial and
professional staff, and not by the much larger unions affiliated to the FNV
and CNV federations. A similar situation emerged in January 2006 in fashion
and sports retail.