If you work for Booking.com’s Amsterdam headquarters, those tranquil work-from-home days might soon be numbered.
A Dutch judge has just ruled that the travel company can now legally make employees spend up to 40% of their working time in the office. So, if you work five days a week, that’s two days of commuting into the office each and every week.
Under Dutch law, Booking.com needed its works council to sign off on the change. To no one’s surprise, the council refused. So the company took things one step further: dragging the matter into court and asking a judge to approve the plan instead.
And, on October 28, that’s exactly what one Amsterdam court did.
Here’s what changes
Until now, spending 40% of your working time in the office was only a recommendation at Booking.com ā one which only 27% of its staff actually followed.
Earlier plans even suggested a “mandatory attendance of 50-60%”, but this was then shot down to 40%.
Under the new policy, the office will measure attendance monthly. Each team will have one fixed office day per week, reports ORnet, a Dutch news site for works council members.
However, the rule won’t be enforced straight away. A transition period of six months has been established, according to court documents, with a “hardship clause” for employees “who genuinely face difficulties due to the new policy”.
The court also expects Booking.com to provide “sufficient workspaces so that everyone who comes to the office has a workspace”.
Could your employer do the same?
Not quite. According to ORnet, Booking.com’s ruling doesn’t give every Dutch employer the right to demand two days in the office.
In this case, the Amsterdam court needed to weigh each part of Booking.com’s plan, such as mandatory attendance of 40%, the transition period, and the hardship clause.
For another company, the judge’s ruling would depend on its own plan and how it consulted its works council.
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