Many catering employees in the Netherlands work under a zero-hours contract. On paper their rights are well arranged, but in practice things often go wrong. Wages to which workers are actually entitled are not always paid. But what are your rights as an on-call worker?
Nearly a million Dutch people work on an on-call basis, figures from Statistics Netherlands show. This includes zero-hour contracts as well as contracts with a minimum and maximum number of working hours. On-call workers are used a lot, especially in the catering industry.
Employees with a zero-hours contract usually hear a week in advance whether and when they can come to work. On-call workers therefore have an irregular income. But on the other hand, they are protected as best as possible. At least, on paper.
Four days or 24 hours in advance
Legally, it is well arranged for on-call workers, says employment lawyer Gerard Berghuis of Baasz Advocaten. “You have quite a bit of protection. In many cases, for example, you are entitled to at least three hours’ pay when you are called up or scheduled, even if you end up working less.”
In addition, on-call workers have the right to refuse a call if requested less than four days in advance. “And if you cancel too late, you are entitled to wages for the hours you should have worked.”
The rules for catering staff are slightly different: in the catering collective labor agreement, the statutory call period has been shortened and your employer must call you at least 24 hours in advance. If the call is changed within 24 hours, you will retain your right to your salary.
After exactly twelve months, all on-call workers are entitled to a contract offer for the average number of hours they worked per week in the past year.
Still not paid
All this legal protection works well on paper, but less so in practice, says Edwin Vlek, chairman of De Horecabond. “Hospitality work is very seasonal. What you often see is that an entrepreneur looks out the window in the morning, sees that it is raining and cancels some people who are scheduled.”
In principle, this is allowed, but employees must be paid for that day and that does not always happen. “What we often see is that an employer asks an employee: ‘Don’t you like being free today?’. If an employee then says ‘yes, fine’, there is mutual consent and the principle applies: no work, no pay.”
The youth department of the FNV trade union, Young & United, also hears the stories. Driver Frank van Bennekom: “I come across this a lot with bicycle couriers. When it rains, everyone wants to call on them, but when the weather clears up, employers throw them off the schedules again without paying out. Fortunately, we can often solve the problem by writing a letter to the employer. Then we get the response: ‘Oh, we didn’t know it worked like this’.”
Don’t dare to litigate
Van Bennekom wonders whether employers really do not know how the rules work. “There are probably also employers who think: these young people do not go to court. It is often their first steps on the labor market and then they take legal action against your employer? Very few do that, I can tell you.”
Moreover, it is expensive, says Berghuis. “Litigation costs a lot of money. There is usually a limited amount in return. And if you make a big deal about it, you are often that nagging employee in the eyes of an employer. It may also mean that you are no longer called for a shift at all.”
Vlek indeed sees this reflected in the catering practice. “It happens that employees are no longer scheduled if they express their dissatisfaction.”
Soon minimum and maximum
The situation for on-call workers should improve as of January 1, 2027, when the Flexible Workers (More Security) Act will partially come into effect. The bill is currently before the Senate.
This law replaces the zero-hours contract with a ‘bandwidth contract’. This means that you agree on a minimum number of working hours per week and a maximum. That maximum may not be more than 130 percent of the minimum. If you receive a contract for at least ten hours per week, you may work a maximum of thirteen hours per week. In addition, you always get paid for the minimum number of hours stated in your contract.
There is an exception for students and apprentices: these groups often do not want to be tied to a minimum number of working hours per week.
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