Imagine the Netherlands Labour Authority inspects your organization and finds that an employee’s combined working and rest times breach the Dutch Working Hours Act (Arbeidstijdenwet).
Your own schedule may look perfectly compliant when viewed in isolation. But if an employee performs work for another employer as well, those hours can affect compliance with the Working Hours Act.
And that can become an employer problem. Breaches can lead to enforcement by the Netherlands Labour Authority, including an administrative fine.
A clause is only the starting point
An employment agreement can require employees to obtain written approval before taking on secondary work.
If you use such a clause, it is worth making clear why approval is required and in which circumstances it may be refused. Compliance with working- and rest-time rules can be one of those reasons.
Those reasons do not need to be included in the employment agreement itself. A policy can set out the procedure for requesting and assessing consent, while the reason for refusing consent can be assessed and communicated when the decision is made. Any restriction on secondary work must be objectively justified when it is applied.
But a contractual requirement to obtain approval is not enough on its own. Employees also need to know that secondary work must be disclosed, how approval should be requested and why the organization needs that information.
Make secondary work part of your process
If secondary work can affect compliance with working- and rest-time rules, the organization should have a clear process for asking about it rather than relying on employees to raise it themselves.
Ask about other work when an employee joins the organization and revisit the subject periodically. It could, for example, be a standard point in a regular performance or progress meeting. The policy should make clear that employees are required to request approval before taking on secondary work and explain why the organization needs this information, including to assess compliance with working- and rest-time rules.
It is also advisable to document the information provided by the employee.
Once it is known that an employee also works elsewhere, those working hours need to be taken into account when scheduling the work the employee performs for your organization and when assessing compliance with the applicable working- and rest-time rules.
The Netherlands Labour Authority expressly identifies secondary work as something employers should take into account in their working- and rest-time policy.
What employers need to do
A clause in the employment agreement is only one part of the solution. It should be supported by a clear policy and a recurring process that makes employees aware that they must disclose secondary work and request approval, and explains why that information is required.
When secondary work is disclosed, the organization should use that information in practice. The hours worked elsewhere need to be taken into account when rosters are prepared and working time is organized, so that the employee’s combined working and rest times remain compliant with the Working Hours Act.
