The majority, or 58%, of professionals in the Netherlands within the HR, temporary employment and payroll sectors are against the introduction of the Dutch ‘Labour Market in Balance Act’, according to survey data from Flexmarkt and PW.

The law, which was approved by the Senate in May 2019, will take effect from 1 January 2020. It is a reversal of the Dutch Work and Security Act (WWZ), which made significant changes to Dutch dismissal law.

Wouter Koolmees, Minister of Social Affairs and Employment, said the bottlenecks on the Dutch labour market are “so serious”, which has led to the previous WWZ act needing immediate repair. However, HR professionals said they have serious doubts as to whether the new law will provide the required repairs. 

One of the main objectives of the new law is to remove the threshold from employers to offer employees a permanent contract. But 5% of respondents think the new law will live up to this. Meanwhile, 30% still have doubts, but do not rule out the possibility of more permanent contracts and 63% think that the new law will not provide for more permanent contracts.

The Labour Market in Balance Act aims to reduce the gap in legal protection and monetary differences between fixed- and indefinite-term employed employees.

Under current law, the maximum duration of successive fixed-term employment contracts is three consecutive fixed-term employment contracts within 24 months. The Labour Market in Balance Act extends the period of time to 36 months.

Meanwhile, the survey data also found that 32% of respondents think that the new law completely misses its goal. Instead of more permanent contracts, the 32% of respondents think that more people are going to work as self-employed. Furthermore, 21% of respondents predict more temporary employment contracts.

The survey also showed that of the employees whose organisations plans to hire more, 4% say that the new law was the deciding factor in offering more people a permanent contract.