Mandatory Confidential Counsellor Bill

We wrote about the Mandatory Confidential Counsellor Bill in our December 2022 newsletter already. This bill seeks to amend the Arbowet (Working Conditions Act) with a view to giving every employee who is confronted with undesirable behaviour at the workplace a legal right of access to a confidential counsellor. The Lower House adopted the bill on 23 May 2023; it is now up to the Upper House to debate the bill.

A brief outline of relevant parts of the bill is provided below:

  • If the bill is enacted, employers will be obligated to appoint a confidential counsellor. For the present, this obligation will be limited to organisations with at least ten employees.
  • The confidential counsellor may be appointed internally or externally. This bill allows employers to organise this according to their preference.
  • However, the appointment of a confidential counsellor increases the administrative and financial burden for employers. The bill therefore expressly provides for the possibility of appointing an external confidential counsellor, for instance through a trade association or an occupational health and safety service.
  • The works council or employee representation must agree to the choice of the confidential counsellor and to his or her positioning, as well as to the extension and termination of his or her appointment.
  • The bill also attempts to strengthen the position of an (internal or external) confidential counsellor within an organisation by granting him or her protection against dismissal and by recording the confidential counsellor’s duties in the law.
  • Finally, the Dutch Labour Inspectorate will monitor compliance with the Act and may impose a demand for compliance.

The bill has yet to be debated in the Upper House. We will inform you in more detail as soon as there are further developments or the bill is enacted.

Please contact our employment law specialists for further information or advice on the appointment of a confidential counsellor.

This article was published in the Newsletter Vestius of June 2023