Working Conditions Act Enforcement Policy

Explanation of the Dutch Working Conditions Act

1. What does the Netherlands Labour Authority do?

   1. Among other things, the Netherlands Labour Authority checks for safe and healthy working conditions. If there are unsafe or unhealthy working conditions, the Netherlands Labour Authority can, for example, demand measures, issue a fine or suspend a company's operations. This is called 'enforcement'. How and when the Labour Authority enforces the law is written down in its enforcement policy.

   2. Rules and arrangements from legislation on working conditions

      The rules and arrangements regarding this enforcement policy can be found in the Policy rule on the imposition of fines under working conditions legislation (Dutch). See below for more about:

      • the components of health and safety legislation
      • what types of violations the Netherlands Labour Authority has defined
      • how the Netherlands Labour Authority enforces the law and what the consequences may be

2. What can be found where?

   1. Working Conditions Act (Arbowet)

      This Act contains general provisions (i.e. the broad outlines) on what companies' health and safety policy should cover. It contains some specific rules (such as the obligation to report workplace accidents). However, most of the rules are detailed in the Working Conditions Decree and the Working Conditions Regulations.

   2. Working Conditions Decree (Arbeidsomstandighedenbesluit)

      This Decree is an initial regulatory elaboration of the Working Conditions Act. It sets out the rules that all employers and workers must abide by to combat occupational risks. These safe and healthy work rules are, therefore, mandatory. It also contains different and additional rules for special industries/companies and for special categories of workers (e.g. young people or pregnant women).

   3. Working Conditions Regulations (Arboregeling)

      These Regulations are a further elaboration of the Working Conditions Decree. They contain specific requirements. For example, the requirements for work equipment and how certain hazardous substances must be measured. These rules are also mandatory for employers and workers.

   4. Health and safety catalogue

      A health and safety catalogue contains agreements between employer organisations and trade unions on how to comply with the target requirements from legislation on working conditions. It contains measures, methods, techniques and ways and good practices that contribute to safe and healthy working and eliminate risks as much as possible within a specific industry (e.g. industrial bakeries, carpentry, agriculture, horticulture, vehicle bodywork repair shops, etcetera).

      The Netherlands Labour Authority reviews health and safety catalogues for validation on the basis of the Health and Safety Catalogue Policy Rule of 2019 (Dutch). If validated, a health and safety catalogue is valid for 6 years. If a validated health and safety catalogue is available, but a company does not work according to that health and safety catalogue and does not apply a comparable approach either, the Netherlands Labour Authority will issue a warning, referring to the measures in the health and safety catalogue.

   5. Policy rule on the imposition of fines under working conditions legislation

      This policy rule sets out what enforcement measures the Netherlands Labour Authority takes in response to a violation. It also lists all the violations for which a fine may be imposed.

3. Enforcement policy: What does the Netherlands Labour Authority do in the event of a violation?

   1. The Netherlands Labour Authority goes by 5 types of violations of legislation on working conditions. These violations vary in severity. This means that the Labour Authority also reacts differently to each type of violation. Below are the 5 types of violations. The most serious and severe type of violation is listed first, followed by the lesser violations.

   2. Criminal violations

      These are violations that usually involve wilful negligence or intent, and they often also involve deadly or life-threatening working conditions. Detection of this type of violation may lead to an official report being drawn up. This can lead to a fine or a prison sentence, for example.

      • Example of this type of violation: an employer knows there is an unsafe situation in their company but does nothing about it. If this causes an accident, an official report can be drawn up.
      • Example of this type of violation: ignoring a shutdown order. This means that the company continues operating, even if an inspector has found that it is so unsafe that they have ordered the work to be stopped. In this case, too, an official report may be drawn up.
      • Official report: this is an official report by an investigating officer, e.g. an inspector from the Netherlands Labour Authority (who is also a special investigating officer) or the police. It contains all the important information about the violation found. The investigating officer forwards the official report to the Public Prosecutor's Office. If necessary, they will also send other documents along.

      At the Public Prosecutor's Office, the prosecutor assesses all the information and decides what to do next: Criminal prosecution or not? If the decision is to proceed to criminal prosecution, the case will be taken to court. This will result in an acquittal or conviction. If someone is convicted, the court can hand down a sentence. This could be a fine, imprisonment or some other type of punishment. In exceptional cases, the Public Prosecutor's Office itself can impose a sentence directly without going through the courts. This is called a punishment order.

   3. Serious violations

      Usually, these types of violations involve deadly or life-threatening working conditions. These are violations for which an official report may be issued or a fine may be imposed.

      • Example of this type of violation: an employer or self-employed person has deliberately worked in a way that has resulted in someone dying in a workplace accident. Or they failed to do something and this caused the workplace accident to happen.
      • Example of this type of violation: Improperly handling hazardous substances such as asbestos or certain chemicals can be considered a serious violation. The substances and situations concerned are listed in the Working Conditions Decree.

   4. Severely punishable violations

      These are usually violations where work involves a serious danger to the persons performing it. This means someone could be seriously injured or even killed. A penalty notice called a 'fine report' will then be issued and a fine will often follow. Usually, the inspector from the Netherlands Labour Authority will suspend the company's operations immediately: Work must then be stopped until appropriate measures are taken to eliminate the hazard.

      Example of this type of violation: a worker works near the eaves on the roof of an apartment building without being leashed and without other measures in place to prevent them from falling down.

      The inspector may also detect a dangerous situation while no work is being performed at the time. Work may then resume only when proper measures have been taken so that work can be done safely. However, the inspector will not impose a fine.

      Example of this type of violation: No one is present on the roof, but everything is ready to start work but no fall-arrest measures have been taken, nor is there any possibility of leashing.

   5. Violations subject to immediate fines

      While these violations are less serious than the severely punishable violations, a fine report is still drawn up immediately and a fine imposed. These are violations that compound worker unsafety or make it impossible for the Netherlands Labour Authority to do its job properly. This concerns issues relating to:

      1. Workers are not trained to properly perform certain dangerous tasks. Example: someone operates a tower crane without being trained to do so.
      2. No actions or measures have been taken to reduce risks. Example: a company does not have a written Risk Inventory and Action Plan.
      3. Certain mandatory notifications have not been made to the Netherlands Labour Authority. Example: a company has not reported that it will start asbestos removal or has not reported a workplace accident.
      4. Essential basic facilities are not available. Example: A company wants to remove asbestos from a site but does not have a report stating what type of asbestos it is and where exactly asbestos was found on that site. As a result, the company does not know what it will encounter.

   6. Other violations

      These are minor violations. After detection, the inspector will issue a demand stating what the employer must do to eliminate the hazard, or issue a warning. Example of this type of violation: A company has not provided specific information and training when workers are exposed to hazardous substances.

4. Reinspection

   1. If the Netherlands Labour Authority has detected a violation, it will often return within a certain period to assess the current status. This is called a reinspection.

      If the Netherlands Labour Authority observes the same violation again, or a similar violation, within a certain period, it will take more stringent action. This period is called a recidivism period, which is 5 years for most violations, but 10 years for serious violations. Inspections will then also be carried out on relevant health and safety aspects within the company. The table below shows how the Labour Authority's response becomes increasingly more stringent.

   2. The Netherlands Labour Authority's response to violations

      The Netherlands Labour Authority's response to violations

      First violation:	Second (same/similar) violation:	Third (same/similar) violation:
      Warning or demand (no fine)	Fine report (a fine is imposed now) + health and safety inspection	Fine report (higher fine) + warning that operations may be suspended if it happens again
      Fine report (fine)	Fine report (higher fine) + health and safety inspection + warning that operations may be suspended if it happens again	Fine report (an even higher fine) + suspension of operations due to recidivism = repeated violation, provided it was (virtually) the same violation. A company may be shut down for a maximum of 3 months as a result.
      Official report	Official report + health and safety inspection + warning that operations may be suspended due to recidivism = repeated violation, provided it was (virtually) the same violation	Official report + suspension of operations due to recidivism = repeated violation, provided it was (virtually) the same violation. A company may be shut down for a maximum of 3 months as a result.

5. Other ways of enforcing the Working Conditions Act

   1. The Netherlands Labour Authority may also use other forms of enforcement:

   2. Suspension of operations

      If there is serious danger to persons (someone could sustain serious injury or death), the Labour Authority can always (immediately) suspend a company's operations.

   3. Administrative order

      If a company repeatedly fails to implement the required measures, the Netherlands Labour Authority can, in extreme cases, implement the measures itself (or have them implemented) and oblige the company to pay for them. Read more about administrative orders (Dutch).

   4. Order subject to a penalty

      If a company does not implement the required measures, the Netherlands Labour Authority can impose a penalty. For each period (for example a day, a week or a month) that the company does not take action, it must then pay a certain amount. For example, € 5,000 for each week that the company fails to implement the measures. Read more about administrative orders Dutch).