If your employer does not comply with the applicable collective labour agreement, the terms of that agreement still apply to you. A collective agreement takes precedence over a less favourable individual contract, and a clause in your contract that undercuts it is void: what applies in its place is the collective agreement provision itself. So an employer paying below the scale is not paying what was agreed; it is simply in arrears.
When is compliance mandatory?
A collective agreement binds an employer that is a member of the employers’ organisation that concluded it, or that signed it itself. Beyond that, the Minister of Social Affairs and Employment can declare a sector agreement generally binding, after which it applies to every employer and employee in the sector for the period of the declaration, membership or not.
Where an employer is bound, it must apply the agreement to employees who fall within its scope. In practice many employers also apply a collective agreement voluntarily by incorporating it into the employment contract, and in that case it binds them contractually.
What can you claim?
You can claim performance of the collective agreement terms and payment of the difference: unpaid wage increases, allowances, overtime, holiday pay, contributions to a scheme. Claims for arrears of wages are subject to a limitation period of five years, so several years of underpayment can usually still be recovered, although waiting reduces what remains claimable.
Statutory interest runs on late wage payments, and the statutory increase for late payment can be claimed in addition; the court has discretion to moderate that increase.
How to raise it
Start in writing. Set out which provision applies, what should have been paid or done, and over what period, and give a reasonable period in which to put it right. A calculation attached to the letter is more effective than a general complaint, and it forms the basis of any later claim.
If that does not resolve matters, there are two routes. You can bring a claim before the subdistrict court, which hears employment cases whatever the amount involved and where legal representation is not compulsory. And where you are a member, your trade union can take the matter up: the parties to a collective agreement have their own right to demand compliance with it, and a union pursuing a structural breach affects every employee in the business rather than one.
What the inspectorate can and cannot do
The Netherlands Labour Authority supervises statutory employment standards such as the minimum wage, working hours and health and safety. It does not decide individual disputes about collective agreement terms and cannot award you money. Where a generally binding collective agreement is concerned, the parties to it can request an investigation, but the enforcement of your own entitlement runs through the civil route.
Frequently asked questions
Does the collective agreement apply if my contract says something different?
Yes, where the employer is bound by it. A less favourable contractual term is void and the collective provision applies instead.
How far back can I claim?
In principle five years, subject to the limitation period for wage claims. Acting promptly preserves the whole period.
Can I be dismissed for raising this?
Claiming what you are entitled to is not a ground for dismissal, and a dismissal that follows such a claim will be examined critically. Record what happens if your position changes after you raise it.
Advice on collective agreement disputes
These cases turn on two questions: whether the agreement applies to your employer, and what exactly it entitles you to. Both can be established from the text and the general binding declaration. Please contact Law & More; our employment lawyers advise employees and employers on collective agreement compliance.
