Will the Netherlands be the first European country to officially legalize the right to telework? In any case, this is the objective of the bill tabled by two Dutch deputies, Steven van Weyenberg, member of the pro-European party D-66, and Senna Maatoug, deputy of the Green Party, reports the magazine’s website. Fortune.
“We have the green light for this new law thanks to the support we have received from the trade union organizations of employees and employers. We hope that the law will be passed before the summer holidays”, explains Steven van Weyenberg. The project must be discussed in Parliament by July 3.
One of the most telework-friendly European countries
The Dutch already had the culture of teleworking before the pandemic, points out Fortune. In 2018, 14% already worked remotely regularly according to Eurostat data, the highest percentage on the continent, well above the average of 5.2% of teleworkers posted by other European countries. .
The Netherlands had also ranked first in a 2019 survey by British internet service provider Plusnet which listed the best European countries for telecommuting, based on factors such as the percentage of people actually working remotely. , the quality of Internet connections and the cost of living.
Since last January, the government has also offered subsidies for employees who incur costs related to working from home, such as setting up a home office. For their part, three-quarters of Dutch employers have updated their rules on flexibility since the pandemic, notably by providing more possibilities for working remotely, “which speaks to the popularity of working from home”, confirms Marcel Molenaar, responsible for LinkedIn for the Netherlands, Belgium and Luxembourg.