Doing Business in the Netherlands 2012 - American Chamber of ...

14 Labor Law
14.1 Term
Doing Business in the Netherlands 2012
An employment contract may be concluded verbally or in writing. A
written contract may take the form of an agreement or a letter signed
by both parties. In either case, the employer is obligated to inform the
employee in writing of the conditions applicable to his/her
employment. The information to be provided by the employer is
based on statutory law and must include – amongst others – the
following:
� the parties’ identities and places of residence;
� the place of work;
� the position of the employee or the nature of his work;
� the length of the employee’s normal working day or week;
� the initial base salary and any other pay components, holidays
and the applicable notice period; and
� whether a pension arrangement is in place.
An employment contract may be concluded for an indefinite term, for
a specified term (“a fixed-term contract”), or for a specific task or
project. If no term or specific task or project is specified, the contract
will be considered to be concluded for an indefinite term.
14.1.1 Probationary Period
Parties to an employment contract may agree on an initial
probationary period in writing only. The statutory maximum
probationary period for an indefinite-term employment contract is two
months. For a fixed-term employment contract, a one month
probationary period is allowed, if the employment contract is entered
into for a period of less than two years. A two-month probationary
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