Unions, employers work on plan to reform sick pay
9 years, 2 months ago

Unions, employers work on plan to reform sick pay

Dutch News  

Dutch unions, employers’ organisations and independent experts are working on a ‘handful of radical reforms’ to close the gap between freelancers and people on permanent contracts, the Financieele Dagblad said at the weekend. ‘The explosive growth in the number of self-employed’ is having a serious impact on the social security system because fewer employees and employers are paying premiums, the FD said. Benefits Some 800,000 to one million people in the Netherlands are classed as ‘self-employed’, meaning they do not pay social security and other premiums and are not entitled to the associated benefits. The plan currently being worked out includes cutting the length of time employers have to pay sick pay from two years to eight weeks.

Pay Sick Pay  reform  unions  pay  selfemployed  security  social  sick  weeks  freelancers  system  employers  fd  work  plan

History of this topic

Over €1 billion in Dutch social benefits unclaimed in 2021
3 weeks, 4 days ago

Over €1 billion in Dutch social benefits unclaimed in 2021

NL Times  

In 2021, more than 1 billion euros in Dutch social benefits went unclaimed, according to the Centraal Planbureau. The unutilized benefits include housing allowance, healthcare allowance, and child-related budget. The CPB also highlights that non-claiming of benefits can persist over multiple years, leading to substantial financial losses for eligible households. For instance, a household that does not claim housing allowance …

Strict self-employment rules hitting tax office in freelancers hired for benefits scandal
1 month, 1 week ago

Strict self-employment rules hitting tax office in freelancers hired for benefits scandal

NL Times  

The Dutch Tax Authority's benefits division faces a major setback in resolving the childcare benefits scandal. Despite being aware of the issue, the government had previously decided to keep the freelancers on staff, arguing that it was an "exceptional situation" requiring urgent action to compensate victims of the benefits scandal. However, the Dutch Tax Authority has now acknowledged that covering …

Decline in freelancers in the Netherlands signals trend break
1 month, 2 weeks ago

Decline in freelancers in the Netherlands signals trend break

NL Times  

The number of self-employed workers in the Netherlands continues to decline, with over 4,000 fewer freelancers registered in January 2025 compared to the previous month, according to the Kamer van Koophandel. "The flexibility of having varying hours each week, such as 30 hours one week and fewer the next, allows workers to better align their schedules with those of their …

Dutch healthcare workers claim hundreds of colleagues have fake diplomas, no training
2 months, 4 weeks ago

Dutch healthcare workers claim hundreds of colleagues have fake diplomas, no training

NL Times  

Hundreds of healthcare workers in the Netherlands report colleagues using falsified credentials to care for vulnerable patients, raising serious concerns about neglect and potential criminal activity, according to an investigation by RTL Nieuws. Workers described witnessing unqualified staff, often temporary or independent contractors filling staffing gaps, resorting to online videos to learn basic medical procedures like inserting catheters. The ongoing …

Dutch government's planned freelance worker reforms won't solve inequality problems
4 months, 2 weeks ago

Dutch government's planned freelance worker reforms won't solve inequality problems

NL Times  

The two laws with which the Dutch government wants to reduce the inequality between freelancers and permanent employees on the labor market will not actually work, the Council of State said in advice to the government on Monday. “The government’s approach in two bills to reform the labor market falls short because it does not fundamentally reform the labor market,” …

Social benefits will cost considerably more due to minimum wage increase
2 years, 1 month ago

Social benefits will cost considerably more due to minimum wage increase

NL Times  

The total cost for social benefits in the Netherlands will be 800 million euros higher this year than previously expected, the said benefits agency UWV on Tuesday. The total amount of benefits distributed this year should amount to 24 billion euros. In addition to the higher costs that are the direct result of increasing the minimum wage, the UWV also …

1.7 million in Dutch workforce not linked to pension, raising retirement fears
2 years, 7 months ago

1.7 million in Dutch workforce not linked to pension, raising retirement fears

NL Times  

About 1.7 million Netherlands residents received an income from work in 2020 but did not contribute to a pension fund. A large part of this group also does not make up for that with other pension savings, De Nederlandsche Bank reported based on research into Statistics Netherlands data on pension accrual. Of the self-employed people who didn’t build up a …

Sick leave, work stress cost the economy over €18 billion last year
2 years, 10 months ago

Sick leave, work stress cost the economy over €18 billion last year

NL Times  

Sick leave dented the Dutch economy by more than 18 billion euros last year, according to insurance firm Nationale-Nederlanden. Coronavirus was among several causes of the increase, which also included longer periods of absenteeism, the insurer detailed in a report on developments in the field of absenteeism and work incapacity. The study found that the absenteeism rate also rose along …

Dutch labor market super tight: 133 vacancies per 100 unemployed
2 years, 10 months ago

Dutch labor market super tight: 133 vacancies per 100 unemployed

NL Times  

The labor market in the Netherlands is still growing tighter. In the first quarter of this year, there were 133 open vacancies per 100 unemployed people, up from 106 per 100 unemployed in the fourth quarter of 2021. The number of vacancies continues to grow as the number of unemployed people continues to fall, Statistics Netherlands reported on Tuesday. The …

Dutch unemployment rate falls back to pre-pandemic levels
3 years, 4 months ago

Dutch unemployment rate falls back to pre-pandemic levels

Dutch News  

The Dutch official unemployment rate has fallen to 2.9%, back at its pre-coronavirus level, national statistics agency CBS said on Thursday. The jobless total has fallen by some 4,000 a month for the past three months, taking the total to 277,000, the CBS said. Almost 200,000 people are currently claiming unemployment benefits, down nearly 9,000 on September’s figure. The CBS …

Dutch unemployment rate falls back to pre-pandemic levels
3 years, 4 months ago

Dutch unemployment rate falls back to pre-pandemic levels

Dutch News  

The Dutch official unemployment rate has fallen to 2.9%, back at its pre-coronavirus level, national statistics agency CBS said on Thursday. The jobless total has fallen by some 4,000 a month for the past three months, taking the total to 277,000, the CBS said. Almost 200,000 people are currently claiming unemployment benefits, down nearly 9,000 on September’s figure. The CBS …

Jobless claims will rise by 100,000 this year, says benefit agency
4 years, 2 months ago

Jobless claims will rise by 100,000 this year, says benefit agency

Dutch News  

Social security benefit agency UWV said on Wednesday it expects the number of people claiming unemployment benefit to rise by 100,000 to 386,000 this year, as the effect of the coronavirus pandemic hits jobs. ‘It is clear that the pandemic is having an unparalleled economic impact, and it is unclear how and when the economy and jobs market will recover,’ …

Jobless claims will rise by 100,000 this year, says benefit agency
4 years, 2 months ago

Jobless claims will rise by 100,000 this year, says benefit agency

Dutch News  

Social security benefit agency UWV said on Wednesday it expects the number of people claiming unemployment benefit to rise by 100,000 to 386,000 this year, as the effect of the coronavirus pandemic hits jobs. ‘It is clear that the pandemic is having an unparalleled economic impact, and it is unclear how and when the economy and jobs market will recover,’ …

Wages rise 3.1% this year, FNV union is targeting 5%
5 years, 9 months ago

Wages rise 3.1% this year, FNV union is targeting 5%

Dutch News  

Pay deals agreed in collective bargaining between unions and employers have resulted in an average rise of 3.1% so far, but the FNV trade union federation is setting its sights on 5%. The FNV, the biggest Dutch union grouping, has been involved in 105 pay deals so far this year and in 40% agreements have also been made about increasing …

Netherlands unemployment drops below pre-crisis levels
6 years, 3 months ago

Netherlands unemployment drops below pre-crisis levels

NL Times  

The number of unemployed people in the Netherlands decreased to 326 thousand in November. Statistics Netherlands considers someone to be unemployed if he or she does not have paid work, is actively looking for work, and is available to start immediately. Over the past three months the number of unemployed people declined by an average of 9 thousand per month. …

Brussels warns the Netherlands to act on bogus self-employment
6 years, 10 months ago

Brussels warns the Netherlands to act on bogus self-employment

Dutch News  

The Netherlands needs to reduce the incentives given to both employers and employees to work via temporary and self-employment contracts, the European Commission said on Wednesday. This, the commission said, should go hand in hand with promoting adequate social protection for the self-employed, and tackle bogus self-employment. Social security The commission points out that government measures to tackle bogus self- …

Brussels warns the Netherlands to act on bogus self-employment
6 years, 10 months ago

Brussels warns the Netherlands to act on bogus self-employment

Dutch News  

The Netherlands needs to reduce the incentives given to both employers and employees to work via temporary and self-employment contracts, the European Commission said on Wednesday. This, the commission said, should go hand in hand with promoting adequate social protection for the self-employed, and tackle bogus self-employment. Social security The commission points out that government measures to tackle bogus self- …

Brussels urges the Dutch to tackle rise in self-employed
7 years, 10 months ago

Brussels urges the Dutch to tackle rise in self-employed

Dutch News  

The Dutch government needs to tackle the surge in people working as freelancers, the European Commission said on Monday in its latest recommendations for the Netherlands. This should be done by reducing ‘tax distortions’ favouring self employment, without compromising entrepreneurship, and by promoting access of the self-employed to affordable insurance against unemployment and disability, the Commission said. In total, almost …

Brussels urges the Dutch to tackle rise in self-employed
7 years, 10 months ago

Brussels urges the Dutch to tackle rise in self-employed

Dutch News  

The Dutch government needs to tackle the surge in people working as freelancers, the European Commission said on Monday in its latest recommendations for the Netherlands. This should be done by reducing ‘tax distortions’ favouring self employment, without compromising entrepreneurship, and by promoting access of the self-employed to affordable insurance against unemployment and disability, the Commission said. In total, almost …

Half of Dutch welfare claimants can't or won't work: CBS
8 years, 9 months ago

Half of Dutch welfare claimants can't or won't work: CBS

Dutch News  

Almost half the 450,000 people claiming welfare benefits don’t want to work or say they are too sick to do so, the national statistics office CBS said on Thursday. By law, all welfare claimants are supposed to look for work and councils have a range of penalties at their disposal, include slashing benefits, to ensure they do so. The CBS …

Half of Dutch welfare claimants can't or won't work: CBS
8 years, 9 months ago

Half of Dutch welfare claimants can't or won't work: CBS

Dutch News  

Almost half the 450,000 people claiming welfare benefits don’t want to work or say they are too sick to do so, the national statistics office CBS said on Thursday. By law, all welfare claimants are supposed to look for work and councils have a range of penalties at their disposal, include slashing benefits, to ensure they do so. The CBS …

Joblessness falls, but long-term unemployed not entering workforce
8 years, 9 months ago

Joblessness falls, but long-term unemployed not entering workforce

NL Times  

Unemployment in the Netherlands continues to decline, according to figures released by Statistics Netherlands on Thursday. Last month there were 560 thousand unemployed people in the Netherlands, about 6.3 percent of the total workforce. Last month 65.7 percent of them, or 8.4 million people, had paid work. In the first five months of the year, the agency paid 210 thousand …

Half of sick workers don't have a medical problem: officials
9 years ago

Half of sick workers don't have a medical problem: officials

Dutch News  

‘ Half of the workers who are home from work sick do not have anything medically wrong with them, health and safety officials say in Saturday’s Trouw. On an average day, some 4% of Dutch workers are off sick and this can be reduced to 2% if employers did more to look beyond medical and physical symptoms, the health and …

Half of sick workers don't have a medical problem: officials
9 years ago

Half of sick workers don't have a medical problem: officials

Dutch News  

‘ Half of the workers who are home from work sick do not have anything medically wrong with them, health and safety officials say in Saturday’s Trouw. On an average day, some 4% of Dutch workers are off sick and this can be reduced to 2% if employers did more to look beyond medical and physical symptoms, the health and …

Brussels to tackle 'social dumping', close staffing agency loopholes
9 years ago

Brussels to tackle 'social dumping', close staffing agency loopholes

Dutch News  

The European Commission has published plans to tackle ‘social dumping’: the way companies use low-cost EU workers to get round pay laws in other member countries. This weekend, the Volkskrant revealed how Romanian workers are being paid well below Dutch minimum wages to work for years in Dutch shipyards via a complicated staffing agency construction. Dutch social affairs minister Lodewijk …

Brussels to tackle 'social dumping', close staffing agency loopholes
9 years ago

Brussels to tackle 'social dumping', close staffing agency loopholes

Dutch News  

The European Commission has published plans to tackle ‘social dumping’: the way companies use low-cost EU workers to get round pay laws in other member countries. This weekend, the Volkskrant revealed how Romanian workers are being paid well below Dutch minimum wages to work for years in Dutch shipyards via a complicated staffing agency construction. Dutch social affairs minister Lodewijk …

The Netherlands is still sick, says the Financieele Dagblad
9 years, 5 months ago

The Netherlands is still sick, says the Financieele Dagblad

Dutch News  

Some 820,000 people in the Netherlands are currently claiming some form of invalidity benefit, the Financieele Dagblad reported at the weekend. Add to that the number of welfare and unemployment benefit claims and over 1.6 million people are economically inactive, the FD said. ‘Twenty-five years ago, Christian Democrat prime minister Ruud Lubbers made his famous “The Netherlands is sick” statement, …

FNV union wants a halt to social security changes
9 years, 9 months ago

FNV union wants a halt to social security changes

Dutch News  

The country’s biggest trade union federation, the FNV, is calling for a moratorium on further reforms in the social security sector. Such a system is ‘unaffordable, undesirable and impossible to achieve’, FNV chairman Ton Heerts said in an interview in Tuesday’s Financieele Dagblad. ‘Employers and political parties calling for change are hacking at the very roots of our social security …

FNV union wants a halt to social security changes
9 years, 9 months ago

FNV union wants a halt to social security changes

Dutch News  

The country’s biggest trade union federation, the FNV, is calling for a moratorium on further reforms in the social security sector. Such a system is ‘unaffordable, undesirable and impossible to achieve’, FNV chairman Ton Heerts said in an interview in Tuesday’s Financieele Dagblad. ‘Employers and political parties calling for change are hacking at the very roots of our social security …

Cut the number of benefits to combat fraud, experts say
11 years, 10 months ago

Cut the number of benefits to combat fraud, experts say

Dutch News  

The Netherlands has too many forms of social benefits for lower income households, making it difficult to spot fraud, various experts have told news website nu.nl. Whichever way you look at it, we are all paying through our taxes.’ Fewer payouts Reducing the scope and focusing on a smaller group would make it more difficult to avoid checks, he said. …

Cut the number of benefits to combat fraud, experts say
11 years, 10 months ago

Cut the number of benefits to combat fraud, experts say

Dutch News  

The Netherlands has too many forms of social benefits for lower income households, making it difficult to spot fraud, various experts have told news website nu.nl. Whichever way you look at it, we are all paying through our taxes.’ Fewer payouts Reducing the scope and focusing on a smaller group would make it more difficult to avoid checks, he said. …

DutchNews.nl
17 years, 5 months ago

DutchNews.nl

Dutch News  

Well done health minister Ab Klink. Your latest plan is certainly guaranteed to solve some of the problems facing the Dutch health service by cutting down on red tape and bureaucracy and boosting efficiency. From next year all health insurance policies will carry a €150 own-risk clause, which means that patients have to pay the first €150 of their medical …

DutchNews.nl
17 years, 5 months ago

DutchNews.nl

Dutch News  

Well done health minister Ab Klink. Your latest plan is certainly guaranteed to solve some of the problems facing the Dutch health service by cutting down on red tape and bureaucracy and boosting efficiency. From next year all health insurance policies will carry a €150 own-risk clause, which means that patients have to pay the first €150 of their medical …

DutchNews.nl
18 years, 2 months ago

DutchNews.nl

Dutch News  

The Netherlands never ceases to amaze in the way it manages to find solutions for the strangest of problems. Until today, Sidelines had no clue that there were some 11,000 people in the country who refuse to pay towards state-run insurance schemes because they believe so passionately that God will provide. Refusing to pay does, of course, go against the …

DutchNews.nl
18 years, 2 months ago

DutchNews.nl

Dutch News  

The Netherlands never ceases to amaze in the way it manages to find solutions for the strangest of problems. Until today, Sidelines had no clue that there were some 11,000 people in the country who refuse to pay towards state-run insurance schemes because they believe so passionately that God will provide. Refusing to pay does, of course, go against the …

Dutch battle to shake off the welfare habit
28 years, 8 months ago

Dutch battle to shake off the welfare habit

The Independent  

For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. He currently claims about 800 guilders a month in …

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