Longer parental leave among law changes taking effect today

A number of law changes are taking effect in the Netherlands today, including an extension of paid leave for new parents, an increase in minimum wage, and a minimum age limit for meal deliverers. Here follows an overview of the changes.

In January, the government decided to give the partners of new mothers a week of paid leave after the birth, instead of two days. From today, partners can get an additional five weeks of leave, which must be taken in the first six months of the child's life. The leave can be taken all in one go, or spread out over the six months. Benefits agency UWV will pay 70 percent of partners' wages during this leave.

The statutory minimum wage increased from 1,653.60 euros to 1,680.00 euros gross per month as of today. Minimum youth wage is also being revised. Various benefits and tax cuts are linked to the statutory minimum wage, and were therefore also adjusted. The adjusted amounts can be found here.

From today, meal delivery workers can not be younger than 16 years old. This measure was taken to increase traffic safety and for the protection of teenagers. 

The government is also releasing a Barometer for Cultural Diversity. From today, companies with more than 250 employees can ask Statistics Netherlands to analyze an anonymous version of their work force and assess the cultural diversity within their organization. "This helps organizations to pursue a fact-based diversity policy."

The working conditions regulation was changed to ban te transport of humans on platforms moved by work cranes. From now on, work cranes can only move platforms with freight on them. This follows a number of incidents investigated by the Social Affairs and Employment Inspectorate.

There is now also a legal limit for the amount of diesel engine emissions employees can be exposed to. Employers are required to avoid any exposure to diesel engine emissions if possible. Otherwise exposure must be limited to the new maximum, which was established based on advice from the Health Council.