specialist areas

Recently, the Hague Court of Appeal ruled that Booking.com must join the industry pension fund for the travel industry. The company opposed this because it sees itself as an Internet company. The financial consequences for Booking.com are huge: The parent company estimates that the ruling will lead to an additional cost of 405 million euros.

Abuse of alcohol or drugs can lead to major problems in the workplace. Think of unsafe situations, dysfunction and regular and/or long-term disability. The employer sometimes wants to unilaterally terminate the employment contract in such a situation. What are the possibilities.

The AVG states that testing employees for substance use is not allowed. According to the Personal Data Authority, it is only permissible to have employees undergo alcohol and/or drug testing if there is a legal basis for doing so.

May you set off excess vacation days against salary without consulting your employee?

Since August 1 of this year, the law (Section 7:653a of the Civil Code) has provided that the employment contract may no longer contain a prohibition on ancillary activities ("ancillary activities clause") unless there is an "objective reason for doing so. This means work in addition to the current position with the employer. This may also include work that the employee performs independently.

A non-competition clause can be challenged by employees if the clause unfairly disadvantages the employee. But how should an employer defend against this? In this article, on the basis of a concrete example, a judgment from the Amsterdam Court of Appeal, we examine in more detail the suspension (interlocutory proceedings) and nullification (proceedings on the merits) of a non-competition and non-solicitation clause and the balancing of interests that takes place.