West Thames HR Exchange Club
Meeting on October 3rd 2001
Royal Holloway University of
London
Agenda
• Minutes of the Last Meeting held July
2001 and matters arising
• Update of Participants and Welcome to
New Members
• Round Robin - a general update from
attendees.
• Coffee Break
Agenda
• Salary Movement – Review of Survey
• HR in a Disaster Situation - Discussion
• Country Profile - Netherlands Andrew
Strathdee, CHRP
• Training Update
• Any Other Business - items for next
meeting,
Salary Movements Survey
2002
Salary levels for 2002
• Survey issued last week
• Anyone wishing to participate can do so at
any time by supplying data but let me know
you intend to do so.
Salary levels for 2002
• Over 40 participants so far
• Large and small players (Oracle, Novell,
Dell, Microsoft, West Thames members
• No discernable difference between size of
company and size of increase
• State of the business is making the decision
Salary levels for 2002
• Features of the results
– Much tighter ranges than previously
– Significant number of companies planning to
give little or no review
– Top level of increase is lower than previously
and nearer to the median.
– Great commonality of increases across
countries, except Ireland and Eastern Europe
Salary levels for 2002
• If you want the results, input your data!
HR IN A DISASTER
SITUATION
May Martin and Mary Ahmad
KNOW YOUR BUILDING
SECURITY
• ID Swipe Cards
• Lax security by employees
• Signing in book
• Visitors
Evacuation Procedures
•
•
•
•
•
What to do
Must be immediate
Communicate with employees
Fire Alarm Testing/False Alarms
New and temporary employees
Disaster Recovery
•
•
•
•
Committee of key managers/representatives
Contact information for Team
Temporary location
Back-Up Server Facilities
Communication
• Who was at work today?
• Contacting people at home
• Contacting next of kin
• Dealing with relatives/media
Counselling/Support
• Review resources for employee counselling
& support
• Who and when
• Don’t forget yourselves!
Insurance
• Buildings & Contents
• Business Travel/Personal Accident
• Life Cover
• Business Interruption
Considerations
•
•
•
•
Review & write appropriate procedures
Ensure Management support
Publish and practice emergency evacuation
Seek input from emergency services,
insurers, employees
• Provide feedback to employees
Country Profile
The Netherlands
Setting Up an Office
• Number of vehicles:
– Limited Liability Company
• NV and BV (BV more usual for wholly owned
subs, restrictions on transferability of shares
– Branch Office
• Parent has unlimited liability for Branch
– Partnership
Boards
• Two tier structure
– Managing Board
• One or more Directors, MD’s appointed by
shareholders
– Supervisory Board
• Where capital exceeds Fl 22.5m and 100 employees
Supervisory board must be appointed to supervise
the managing board.
Employment Status
• There are no recognised employment
statuses
• There are minor differences between
blue and white collar and Top
Management (similar to UK)
• Pay periods differentiate
(weekly/monthly)
Recruitment
• Recruitment is free of Statute
– Employees (perm and temp)are recruited
through
• Advertising
• Local Employment Office
• Recruitment Agencies and Head-hunter
– Cannot set medical criteria unless required
by law (e.g. bus driver)
– No quotas for disabled people
Forms of Contracts
• EU - A written statement of the main terms
of employment must be given to the
employee within one month of the agreed
start date of employment.(Law 196, 1997)
• Formal written statements specify terms
and conditions plus any CA’s which are
applicable
• Employees must sign to acknowledge
receipt
• Managers usually given separate letter
Forms of Contracts
• Fixed Term
– More than three fixed terms becomes open
contract or if fixed contracts plus breaks
exceed three years. A three month break
invalidates this.
• Temporary
– Normal unless for less than 26 weeks, but if it
goes over, fixed term rules apply
• Part time
– Permitted but must be fully pro-rata, no
discrimination
Contents of Statement
• Statement must show (EU + Ne)
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
Name and residence of employee and ‘er
Place of work
Job Title or description
Start date
job title
Working hours and holidays
Pensions
Notice period
Amount of pay and method/period of payment
Termination date if it is a fixed term contract
Reference to internal regulations
Any applicable collective agreements
Length of any probationary period
Collective Agreements
• CA’s made between unions and employers,
on industry basis
• Applied as in UK
Works Councils
• Exist in employers with 50 or more employees, can be
lowered to 10!
• Employers with 10 to 50 must hold 2 staff information
meetings per year or more if 25% employees request it
• Representatives must have 1 years service
• Number vary from 3 to 25 depending on size of
organisation
• Consent of council required for a wide range of
management decisions, and have right to information
and to make proposals
• Can propose and veto members of Supervisory Board
Probationary Periods
• Probation permitted
– Applies equally to both parties
– Max period 2 months unless fixed term of less
than two years, when one month
– Longer makes entire period unenforceable
• Collective agreement
– Probation period in collective agreement
automatically includes in contract
Employment Covenants
• Confidentiality
– Employees must not disclose to third parties trade or
business secrets, either during employment or
thereafter.
– Breaches cause employer to sue
• Non-Compete Clause
– Non compete clauses permitted – must not prevent
earning a living, and specifies duties, time and
geography
– If termination by employer is unfair then non compete
clauses are void
• Non Solicitation
– Similar to Confidentiality
• Penalty Clauses
– Can be included for the above specifying amount
Employment Covenants
• Two types of inventions,
– Those developed by employees in the
normal course of their employment
• Belong to employer
• Employee entitled to compensation unless
salary contains an element for inventions
– arrived at independently by the
employee.
• belong to the employee
Working Hours
•
•
•
•
The working week is covered by Labour Time Act
Maximum day 9 hours
Maximum week 45 hours
Maximum 520 hours over 13 weeks = 40
hours/week
• Collective Agreements often 38 to 40
• Shorter hours often by taking Friday afternoon
• “Occasional Overtime” may be requested up to
12
11 hours/day, 54 per week, 585 per quarter
11
1
10
2
3
9
4
8
7
6
5
Overtime Premia
• Between 6.00am and 8.00pm
– Premium 1.25 first 2 hours, 1.5 thereafter
• Between 8.00pm and 6.00am
– Premium 1.5
• Saturdays and Sundays
– Premium 2.0
• Bank Holidays
– Premium 3.0
• Nights
– Premium 1.75
Night Work
•
•
•
•
Between 12.00 midnight and 6.00am
Break of 14 hours required before next shift
Maximum shift 8 hours
3 – 5 nights consecutive requires 48 hour
break before next period
• Maximum 10 shifts in four weeks and 25
over 13 weeks
Rest periods
• Rest periods specified by law
– 30 minutes after 5.5 hours
– 45 minutes if hours 8 or more
– 11 hours out of 24
– 36 continuous hours if working 7 days
• No Sunday work (Exceptions)
Public Holidays
•
•
•
•
January 1st
Easter Monday
Ascension Day
Queen’s Birthday
(April 30th)
• Whit Monday
• Liberation Day May 5th
every five years, next 2005
• December 25th
• December 26th
• There are some local religious holidays
Good Friday, Shrove Tuesday, Assumption (August 15th)
Holidays
• Holiday is a legal right
• The basic entitlement is 4 times working days in
week, i.e. generally 20
• Generally 25 days
• Two weeks to be taken as one period
• Annual Vacation Period fixed by employer based
on needs of company and employees.
• Minimum periods cannot be reduced
• Vacation accumulates for 6 months in illness and
12 months in military service
• Untaken holiday can be carried forward for two
years
• Vacation premium of 8% up to three times
national minimum wage
Time Off
• Maternity Leave
– 16 weeks on full pay, any service, starts 6 weeks
before EDC
– Right to return to former job
– If sick after maternity leave due to it, sick pay for 1
year
• Parental Leave
– 13 weeks or 520 hours after 1 year service
– Unpaid
– Taken as half time for 6 months, but can be one
block with employer agreement
Time Off
• Civil duties
– Elected members or civil duty (e.g. voting)
are entitled to paid and paid hours off to
carry out duties
• Other reasons
– Typically in CA’s and cover education,
weddings, bereavement, marriage, illness
of close relative, moving etc..usually 1 to 5
days
National Minimum Wage
• There is one!
• Reviewed 6 monthly
• Currently for 2001 the statutory
minimum wage (minimumloon) for an
employee aged between 23 and 65 is
NLG 2,544.10 gross per month
Pay
• PAYE does operate for Tax
• Compulsory Social Security deductions
• Compulsory payslip for all pay transaction–
must show:
–
–
–
–
Pay and voluntary deductions
Social Security deductions
Grade and scale plus collective agreement name
Holiday pay
• Pay by Bank transfers or Cash
Contributions
• New Tax system from 2001
• Tax and NI Combined.
• Current rates
–
–
–
–
32.35% for the first NLG 32,769;
37.60% on the next NLG 26,751;
42% on the next NLG 42,532; and
52% on the excess.
• Wage tax is based on progressive rate tables,
derived from the above income tax rates.
Sick Pay
• Sickness Benefits Act
– Employer pays 70 – 100% for 1st 52
weeks, first 2 days unpaid
– Can be insured,
• stop loss, waiting period or self insure,
depending on size
– After first year State benefits 70% of
daily pay up to annual maximum
Long Term Sickness
• Coverage via Disablement Benefits Act
(WAO)
• Complex calculation based on salary, age
and degree of disablement
• Period of payment 6 months to 6 years,
then replaced by lower benefit
• Employer funded
• Generally employers fund the gap
between schemes, by insurance
Death
• Lump sums not popular due to tax
treatment
• Generally State benefit paid as a
monthly “pension”
Medical
• Provision based on income with an annual
ceiling
• Contributions around 1.75% employee,
6.35% employer
• Individuals earning above the ceiling take out
private insurance
• Large companies can have insured scheme
• Charges of 20% of cast for certain services
such as medicines, consultants etc
Equality and Discrimination
• All kinds of discrimination forbidden by
Constitution and legislation, both direct and
indirect, except Age
–
–
–
–
–
–
sex;
race;
religion/philosophy;
political conviction;
sexuality;
marital status.
• Personal Liability in exercising office
• GOQ’s permitted
Retirement
• Retirement age is 65
• Occupational schemes can go to 60
• For technical reason often set at 62, to
protect early retirement benefit as this
can be lost if employee is made
redundant before early retirement date
Pensions
• To qualify for full pension, have to reach
retirement age and paid from age 15 to
65
• Pension reduced by 2% for uninsured
years
• State pension 70% of net minimum
wage
Pensions
• DB and DC schemes, with DC schemes
growing
• Target 70% of final pay including state
scheme
• Typical contributions split 2:1 Employer/ee
• Range 6:3 to 10:5%
• AVC permitted
• Life insurance pays out as survivors pension
Termination
• Notice periods
Service
Notice
0 to 5 years
1 month
5 to 10 years
2 months
10 to 15 years
3 months
Over 15 years
4 months
Termination
• Notice – longer can be requested by
employer, but must give twice employee! (3
months employee = 6 months from
employer)
• Notice must be given
• No pay in lieu unless employee agrees
• Garden leave permitted
Termination
• Permit to terminate must be obtained from
District Employment Service or cantonal
court
• If granted, notice can be given
• Compensatory payment is necessary to
secure permit
• Sick employees protected for two years
• Damages if employer gets it wrong!
Compensation
• Cantonal Court formula
–AxBxC
– A = gross monthly salary plus holiday and
bonuses
– B = Service, based on 1 month for each year
up to age 40, 1.5 for years between 40 and 50
and 2 months for each year over 50
– C = Correctional factor - if the fault of
neither, set at 1, otherwise court sets so as
to disadvantage blameworthy party
Managerial Severance
Payments
– For Managers, often set at:
–Between 40 and 50 5 to 10 months at 5
years service, up to 36 months at 15
years.
–Over 50s can get double this.
Redundancy
• Permits required
– Individual as normal
– Over 20, over three months, special
permission must be sought
– Permission will only be granted
• if no other jobs, and last in first out will be applied
• Consultation with Unions and Works council carried
out
• Social Plan in place
– Employees can still sue for wrongful dismissal
References
• Employers must provide references
• Reference must cover work performed,
hours and dates of starting and leaving
• Employee can request additional
information to be provided
• Employer must answer accurately!