Articles

On 1 July 2016, the Dutch House for Whistleblowers Act (Wet Huis voor Klokkenluiders) came into effect. Pursuant to this act, employees who have a suspicion of abuse within the organisation for which they work can turn to the House for Whistleblowers if the employer does not have a (adequate) procedure in place or the employer has failed to handle an internal report correctly.

Minister Asscher of Social Affairs and Employment announces an adjustment to the Wet werk en zekerheid (Wwz - employment and security act).

Currently, a lower statutory minimum wage applies to young people under 23 years of age, the so-called minimum youth wage. Minister Asscher wishes to abolish the minimum youth wage for employees who are 21 and 22 years of age.

The position of the old-age pensioner has changed with the introduction of the WWZ (Wet Werk en Zekerheid - Work and Security Act) on 1 July 2015, which means there is little to no employment protection for this employee. Subsequently, on 1 January 2016, the Wet Werken na de AOW-gerechtigde leeftijd (Working beyond AOW entitlement Act) came into effect. This act limits the obligations of the employer in the case of illness of an old-age pensioner.

On 19 July 2016 the European Commission imposed the largest fine ever on European truck manufacturers. The manufacturers were part of a cartel. This is the case for the manufacturers MAN, Volvo/Renault, Daimler, Iveco and DAF.

Entrepreneurs regularly fall victim to advertising fraud. This involves misleading commercial practices. Certain (telephone) sales techniques are used to gain the entrepreneur's confidence and raise expectations. The objective is to have the entrepreneur enter into an agreement, after which the agreed performance is not or not properly delivered.

Not all legislative processes take a long time. The legislative proposal was sent to the House of Representatives on 11 April 2016. On 21 June 2016, the Senate – like the House of Representatives – dealt with the legislative proposal as a formality, and adopted it. The law will take effect at a time to be decided by royal decree.

Minister Asscher announces measures that pertain to the obligation to continue to pay salary in the event of illness

On 31 October 2013, in the article “Beslag op de koopsom van een woning” ("Garnishment of the purchase price of a dwelling"), we already discussed a judgement of the Supreme Court of 12 July 2013, in which the Court ruled that garnishment levied on the purchase price against the buyer is not subject to the protection of the priority notice ("Vormerkung").