The Dutch Trade Union Confederation (FNV) is calling on the Dutch government to recognise a person’s right to work from home should they wish to do so.
The FNV recognises how the coronavirus pandemic has changed the way the world works. It has proven that there is no reason for employees to spend all day working in an office, and that they should have the freedom to be able to choose whether they want to work from home.
In a post-pandemic world, companies would have the power to reject an employee’s request to work from home. The FNV would like to see this changed, by introducing a law aimed at protecting workers’ right to work from home. The union hopes that, in the future, everyone will be able to split their time between the office and their home more freely.
On Friday, the FNV is submitting a bill to the House of Representatives (Tweede Kamer) with D66 and Groenlinks. All parties feel that workers should be able to decide for themselves where they want to work and where they feel the most productive. The Work Where You Want Act (Wet werken waar je wilt) would provide this freedom of choice.
Under this Act, companies would only be able to reject an employee’s request to work outside of the office if there are compelling business interests. “It is important to us that employees have more control and freedom over the place where they work,” says GroenLinks’ Senna Maatoug.