Drivers of the Hermes bus company are not allowed to take extra days off from August 27 to October 15. This is due to the shortage of personnel. Vacation requests that were previously approved will remain.
The works council of the company says that the decision not to grant extra leave was taken without consultation. That is why the Works Council has filed summary proceedings before Monday. Hermes runs buses in Eindhoven and part of Southeast Brabant. A spokesperson for the company declined to comment as the case is pending.
Refusal OR
According to the company, there are no other ways to solve the problems in the short term. The Works Council believes that the decision cannot be taken lightly. In the meantime, the Works Council does not agree with a plan to change holiday and leave arrangements.
Last week it was announced that Hermes is having great difficulty in completing the timetable. There are plenty of buses, passengers too, but not drivers. “Here in the region there is a huge shortage of personnel and then we also have many drivers who are retiring,” the Hermes spokesman said at the time. Especially at weekends, the bus company has great difficulty keeping the schedules and timetables up due to overlapping holidays.
On Sunday, thirty driver shifts could not be filled, causing trips to be cancelled. Drivers who do drive receive a lot of complaints from travelers, one of them said.
Custom arrangement
Due to the persistent shortage of staff, Hermes will use an adjusted holiday schedule from 28 August. The changes apply until the autumn holidays, mid-October. As a result of this measure, journeys will be canceled and fewer buses will run on a number of routes. Among other things, a number of extra early journeys will be removed from the bus book.
Extra buses are used where many travelers are expected. Despite the announced changes, travelers may experience canceled or delayed buses. Hermes advises for every trip the website or consult the app of the bus company.