Netherlands Proposes To Make Work-From-Home A Legal Right

In an attempt to make it legal, two Dutch lawmakers have proposed to make the Netherlands one of the first countries to legally allow employees to work remotely

Updated on: 24 June 2022 8:42 am

It is also important to observe that the Netherlands has the shortest average work week

Work-from-home has made life easier as it is flexible. A lot of travelling time and cost are cut down as employees have to just focus on work. In an attempt to make it legal, two Dutch lawmakers have proposed to make the Netherlands one of the first countries to legally allow employees to work remotely. According to the Bloomberg report, Steven van Weyenber, a member of the pro-European D-66 Party and Senna Maatoug, a lawmaker for the Green Party, is introducing this legislation.

Weyenberg said,” We have the green light for this new law thanks to the support we received from both employees and employers’ unions. We are very hopeful it will pass before the summer.”

Work-from-home has led to a lot of companies contemplating the pros and cons of the decision. While it does bring flexibility, it has also become an issue of great concern about the in-office experience. Recently, Elon Musk, owner of Tesla, gave an ultimatum to the staff of the company to either come to the office or quit.

It is also important to observe that the Netherlands has the shortest average work week. Dutch employees work on an average of 29.5 hours per week – this was stated by OECD (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development).

In April 2022, Dell had offered the staff in the Netherlands to opt for a 4-day work week to make a flexible work environment for the employees. The UK is running the biggest trial of a four-day work week across the country. In India, according to reports, 60% of employees prefer flexibility over a four-day work week.