van het Kaar, Robbert

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.

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

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/

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

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

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/

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

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/

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.

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.