Employment, Incentives & Pensions New Year Newsflash

Labour Law

Equal opportunities in Recruitment & Selection

An important matter for employers to consider in 2024 is the expected entry into effect of the Equal Opportunities in Recruitment and Selection (Supervision) Act (the Act). Though currently still in the legislative phase, the proposal for the Act has been adopted by the House of Representatives with a large majority of votes and is generally expected to be passed by the Senate as well (sometime in the coming months). If and when entered into effect, among other things, the Act would introduce an obligation for employers with at least 25 employees* to have a written procedure which is aimed to prevent labour market discrimination. In any event, the procedure should include effective measures to prevent labour market discrimination (and the employees who are involved in the recruitment and selection process – such as recruitment, HR or other employees conducting job interviews – should be made aware of the existence and contents of the procedure).

The procedure should be freely accessible for- everyone and updated as often as necessary to reflect prior experience and evolving knowledge on labour market discrimination. Another measure included in the proposed Act is a so-called ‘duty to verify’. This shall apply to employers who outsource (certain) recruitment and selection activities to third parties. Such employers will have to verify whether those third parties actually have a written procedure in place aimed at the prevention of labour market discrimination. Over the coming months, we will closely monitor the progress of this legislative proposal and will provide you with a more detailed update before the (expected) Act comes into force.

*In certain exceptional cases (such as a recent prior conviction for labour market discrimination) this threshold shall not apply. For employers with less than 25 employees, there is – in principle – no obligation to have the procedure in writing.

ESG - Reporting obligation work-related mobility of persons

As of 1 July 2024, large employers (who employ at least 100 employees) are obliged to report on the business traffic and commuting of their employees. The resulting data from 2024 must be submitted no later than 30 June 2025 via an online form available on the web page of the Netherlands Enterprise Agency (RVO). In 2025, employers may choose whether they report on the period from 1 July 2024 until 31 December 2024 (or, on a voluntary basis, on the entire year 2024). Most likely, not all requested data shall immediately be available to employers. It is generally expected that compliance with the reporting obligation shall require quite some administrative preparation.

Taking this into consideration, the RVO has published detailed guidelines (giving employers a good indication of the nature (and level of detail) of the data that should be gathered). Unfortunately, thus far, the online form and the guidelines are only available in Dutch (see link). We will closely monitor the RVO’s webpage to see whether English versions might become available at a later stage. In the meantime, should you have any questions and/or require advice on the practical translation of this new obligation into your organisation, then please feel free to reach out to any member of our Employment, Incentives and Pensions team for guidance and advice. Should you have other ESG-related questions (for example about the (first stage of the) implementation of the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive as of 1 January 2024), then please ask Laurie or Annemarie to bring you into contact with the ESG-team in our Amsterdam office or feel free to reach out to them directly.

Pension

Future of Pensions Act

On 1 July 2023 the Future of Pensions Act (Wtp) entered into force. The aim of the Wtp is to
make pension schemes in the Netherlands more future-proof and personalised. The changes will affect the vast majority of employers regardless of the type of pension agreement and regardless of the type of pension provider. As the measures of the Wtp are significant, the Act foresees in a transition period giving social partners, employers and pension providers until 1January 2028 to amend the pension schemes as to align with the new pension system (for more details, please see our WTP brochure from June 2023). While 1 January 2028 may seem far away, it is highly important that employers take timely action.

• Employers who have placed their pension scheme with an insurer, should ensure that they formally agree upon a Wtp-compliant administration agreement ultimately on 1 October 2027 to ensure a Wtp-compliant pension scheme for their employees as from 1January 2028. Considering that changes to the pension scheme may require individual consent of employees and will trigger the involvement of the works council (i.e. a right of consent) and also considering that such (co-determination) processes can take a long time, employers would be well advised to initiate the first steps towards amendment in2026 (at the latest).
• Employers whose activities fall within the scope of a mandatory industry-wide pension fund, should keep in mind the milestones included in the transition framework. As the first deadline in the transition framework (1 January 2025) is approaching and there required steps usually take time, require the involvement (and co-operation) of multiple parties and will likely require (external) advice, employers would be well advised to start the transition process sooner rather than later.

If you have any questions regarding the Wtp and/or require tailor-made advice on the potential options and implementation actions to be taken, then please feel free to reach out to either Laurie Kuijpers, partner and certified pension lawyer, or Romy Akkermans, Supervising Associate. Laurie and Romy, both members of the Employment, Incentives and Pensions Team in our Amsterdam office, are experienced lawyers with extensive knowledge on matters of pension law and can guide you through all Wtp-related matters.