The Netherlands is set to become the first country to make work-from-home a legal right for all employees in the country. The lower house of the Dutch parliament has passed the law, which makes work-from-home a legal right for all citizens.
The lockdowns during the pandemic had caused firms around the world to facilitate their employees’ remote work. With the mobility restrictions being lifted and the economy slowly opening up, many companies have been calling their employees back to office. This led to the issue of many employees remaining unwilling to return to office. Having tasted the benefits of working from home, employees are not able to wholeheartedly obey their employers’ orders to return to office.
Giving priority to the work-life balance of employees, the Dutch government has taken this significant step to make work-from-home a right. As per the law, if the employer can afford to allow the option of remote work or work-from-home, to the employee, the employee’s request for the same will have to be considered.
The bill to make work-from-home legal still awaits formal approval from the Dutch Senate for implementation. It was introduced in the last week of June by Steven van Weyenberg, a member of the pro-European D-66 Party, and Senna Maatoug, a lawmaker for the Green Party.
Known for its employee friendly corporate culture, the Netherlands has one of the lowest working hours in a week — 29.9 hours.
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