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

holidays, regulations relating to working conditions and regulations
relating to policy on appointments, dismissals or promotion).
Failure to comply with the obligation to (timely) request the Works
Council for its advice or approval, often results in substantial delays,
unwanted media exposure, unrest among employees and (where
applicable) trade unions, and – in a worst case scenario – court
proceedings resulting in the obligation to reverse the adopted decision,
including all implementation measures.
The general aim of the Dutch Works Councils Act is to promote
consultation between management and employees, especially with
regard to intended changes in business and/or policies that can affect
personnel (i.e., employment conditions, terms of employment, etc.).
As a general rule to abide by, intended decisions that could impact
employees will likely trigger an obligation to request the Works
Council for its advice or – depending on the circumstances and extent
of the intended decision – its approval.
Members of the Works Council must observe confidentiality in
relation to all business and industrial secrets which may come to their
knowledge, and also all matters with respect to which the company or
the Works Council has imposed an obligation of confidentiality.
Dutch statute holds a statutory prohibition to give notice of
termination to employees due to their membership of the Works
Council, which means that if parties fail to reach an amicable
settlement, the employer will have to start substantive dissolution
proceedings to terminate the employment contract of a member of the
Works Council.
14.4.1 Small Companies
The Dutch Works Councils Act contains employee
participation/consultation obligations for companies that do not have a
Works Council. For example, companies with at least 10 but less than
50 employees are – in the absence of a Works Council – required to
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