For those of us with an office job, life after lockdowns has been a bit of an adjustment. Don’t feel like seeing your colleagues’ lovely faces every day? Well, soon, you may actually be able to work where you want.
Why? The Dutch House of Representatives (Tweede Kamer) has passed the legislative proposal to ‘Work Where You Want’ (‘Werken Waar Je Wilt‘), SER reports.
What is ‘Werken Waar Je Wilt’?
‘Work Where You Want’ is an initiative put forward by Senna Maatoug of GroenLinks and Steven van Weyenberg of D66.
Under this initiative, employees in the Netherlands can submit a request to work from home to their employer. The employer must then seriously weigh up just how badly they need their employee in the office.
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Unless they have a ‘reasonable and fair’ justification for making you come in every day, your employer has to grant you the right to work from home more often.
However, in turn, the employer also has the right to weigh in on how your hybrid working model should look — so no, you can’t bid your colleagues and that awful coffee machine farewell for good, you still have to show face every once in a while. 🙄
Yet to pass through the senate
Don’t go investing in that snazzy home office setup just yet, however.
While the House of Representatives (Tweede Kamer) has passed the bill, it must now be passed in the Senate (Eerste Kamer) before it can come into force.
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