Union: More companies lay off workers by July 1 deadline

Nearly 200 organizations are laying off employees because of the introduction of the new worker protection law in July, according to labor union CNV. Temporary workers who have worked with a company for at least two years are entitled to severance pay under the new legislation. “Employers are massively dismissing temporary employees,” said the union chairman Maurice Limmen. “This is completely contrary to the intent of the new law and to the spirit of social agreement.” There is a similar trend for semi-public companies, according to CNV. “Firing people with flexible contracts is common in the education sector, health care and other semi-public services,” said Limmen. “These companies behave in the same way as commercial organizations.” ING recently provoked a public outcry because of firing 275 temporary workers allegedly to circumvent the new law. A similar story involved the insurance giant Nationale Nederlanden, spun off last year from ING, that recently began dismissing temporary employees. In response to those incidents, CNV launched a hotline for workers who believed their employers were trying to go around the new law.