We have drawn up a short list for you of possible actions you may still need to take before or after 1 January 2020 as a result of the introduction of the Balanced labour market act (Wab).

Employees with on-call contracts (oproepcontracten)

Action: make a list of your employees with on-call contracts and the term of these contracts. If you have employees who have been employed for 12 months or more on 1 January 2020, you must make them a written offer by 1 February 2020 for a fixed number of working hours that is at least equal to the average volume of work over the past 12 months.

Action: bear in mind that an on-call period of four days applies as of 1 January 2020 (unless agreed otherwise in the collective agreement). If you cancel the call within this period or change the working hours, the employee is entitled to wages for the hours during which the employee was on-call.

Written permanent employment contract: low unemployment contribution

Action: identify whether all permanent employment contracts are in writing. This is because the low unemployment contribution only applies to permanent employment contracts laid down in writing. The Ministry of Social Affairs and Employment's expert report Contribution Differentiation states that if a written temporary employment contract has been concluded, which will convert into a permanent employment contract for an indefinite period of time by operation of law without the written employment contract having been adapted to the new situation, the employer must pay a high unemployment contribution. In order to avoid any debate about this, we recommend that if the employment contract
has become a permanent contract by operation of law without being laid down in writing, or if there is no written employment contract available for any other reason, this should still be laid down in writing together with the employee.

Information listed on the payslips

Action: bear in mind that as of 1 January 2020, it is mandatory to indicate on the payslips whether this is a permanent employment contract entered into in writing and whether this is an on-call contract. This serves two purposes: it makes the nature of the employment contract visible to the employee and promotes the enforceability of the new unemployment contribution system. The indication on the payslip is also a requirement for applying the low unemployment contribution.

Payroll employees

Action: identify whether your company has payroll employees. These are employees who are employed by a third party, but who work exclusively for you and are recruited by you. As of 1 January 2020, these payroll employees are entitled to the same employment conditions as your own employees. In this context, you also have an obligation to provide information to the payroll company so that they can pay the correct wages. Bear in mind that you, as the hiring employer, can also be held liable for the payment of the worker's salary (based on vicarious liability). It is therefore important to check whether the payroll employees are subject to the correct employment conditions.

Transition payment

Action: bear in mind that as of 1 January 2020 the rules governing the transition payment will change: for example, payment will no longer first be due until after 2 years have passed, but from the first working day, and one third of a month's salary will be accrued for each year worked. These rules do not yet apply to terminations made before 1 January 2020, or requests for consent by the Employee Insurance Agency (UWV) or dissolution requests made before 1 January 2020.

Termination of employment contract with employees who have been disabled for more than 2 years as a result of illness (dormant employment)

Action: following a Supreme Court judgment (ECLI:NL:HR:2019:1734), we advise you to terminate all dormant employment relationships by mutual consent before 1 January 2020, with an award of an amount equal to the amount of the transition payment due in the event of termination of the employment contract on the day after the day on which you could have terminated the employment contract due to the employee's occupational disability. For more information we refer to our flash of 13 November 2019 (dutch only).

The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.