The employer's duty to provide information is extended due to new EU rules

In short, it can be said that the new rules mean that employers will be obliged to inform employees in writing about more employment terms and conditions than what applies under the current rules. In addition to the requirement to provide information on, among other things, the length of the employee's normal working day or working week and the length of the employee's paid vacation, which already exists today, the new rules will entail that the employer also informs about the following in writing:

• The rules that the employer and the employee must follow when one of them wants to terminate the employment.

• What applies to overtime or additional time work.

• Minimum time limit for notification of the scheduling of regular working hours.

• Information about any right to education that the employer may provide.

• That employment taxes are paid to the state and information about the protection relating to social security provided by the employer (for example, occupational pension benefits).

• Certain information must be provided to the employee no later than 7 days after the employment has started.

We recommend that you always enter into written employment agreements with your employees before the employment starts. In that way, both parties know what applies regarding the employment! By concluding an employment agreement, which contains all the information that must be provided according to the new rules, the obligation to provide certain information has also been fulfilled at the same time. That is what we call 2 birds one stone!

We know that all these changes can feel overwhelming! Keep it cool, though! PocketLaw helps you so take it easy. We are now working hard on getting our employment agreement templates updated and adapted to the new rules. 

Existing employment agreements will not be affected
The new information rules will not affect employment agreements that have been entered into before 29 June 2022. However, the employer must provide supplementary information in accordance with the new rules upon the employee’s requests.

Other things to be noted
As a main rule, the employer will not be able to prohibit an employee from having another employment. However, the employee may not take up an employment with a competitor of the employer or take up an employment that prevents the employee from being able to perform their regular job.

An employee who has a fixed-term employment and requests a permanent employment is entitled to receive a written answer from the employer with its motivation. The employer must submit its answer within one month. The same applies to a part-time employee who requests a higher employment rate. The right to a written answer from the employer does not apply if the employee has a probationary employment or has not yet been employed for 6 months.

Deviating rules may apply if the employer is bound be a collective bargaining agreement
It will be possible to deviate from several of the new information rules by means of a collective bargaining agreement. If your company is bound by a collective bargaining agreement, we recommend that you contact your employers' organization to find out which rules that will apply to your particular business.