Court orders Albert Heijn to permanently hire long-term temp fired after labor strike

Albert Heijn has been ordered to employ a former agency worker on a permanent basis after he spent over seven years working at the same distribution centre. The District Court in The Hague found that the supermarket chain abused the use of a temporary staffing arrangement. Trade union FNV, which backed the Polish worker Pawel Rudzki, says he was eventually dismissed due to his prominent role in a strike.

The court found that Albert Heijn abused the use of a temporary staffing structure by keeping Rudzki in an agency role for years without granting him the rights of permanent employment. It ruled that he should have been offered a permanent contract in 2021. Had that happened, the supermarket chain would not have been able to dismiss him on the spot over alleged conduct issues, which the court said were not sufficiently serious to justify such action.

Albert Heijn stated that it was unable to offer Rudzki a permanent position due to alleged behavioural issues. While he did receive warnings, his employment agency, OTTO, argued that there were no serious incidents.

Should Albert Heijn fail to take Rudzki on as a permanent staff member, the company will be required to pay a penalty payment. It must also compensate for his previous agency wages by bringing them in line with what he would have earned as a permanent employee.

The court also noted that it could not exclude the possibility that Rudzki was monitored more closely than others. In an email exchange, an Albert Heijn supervisor and an OTTO manager referred to tracking six “most problematic strikers,” including Rudzki.

FNV said earlier that the case is “illustrative” of the situation faced by many, often Eastern European, workers who remain in long-term agency employment. The union argues that they struggle to enforce their rights because they can be let go relatively easily.

FNV board member Levin Zühlke-van Hulzen said the significance of the ruling is therefore “difficult to overstate,” as the court has now ruled that such an insecure position is not acceptable. “We will definitely push ahead now,” he said.

Albert Heijn said it is currently reviewing the court’s ruling. The company previously stated that any suggestion that employees are disadvantaged due to their union involvement is unfounded.