Observation (CEACR) - adopted 2017, published 107th ILC session (2018)

Workers with Family Responsibilities Convention, 1981 (No. 156) - Netherlands (Ratification: 1988)

The Committee notes the observations by the Netherlands Trade Union Confederation (FNV) and the National Federation of Christian Trade Unions (CNV) received on 31 August 2016.

Article 4 of the Convention. Leave entitlements for men and women workers with family responsibilities. The Committee recalls its previous comments in which it noted the need to promote a more equitable sharing of family responsibilities between men and women, especially in a national context where two-thirds of women work part time. The Committee notes that, in its report, the Government indicates that leave arrangements aim to facilitate a better combination of work and care tasks, and that flexible arrangements and part-time contracts make it possible to combine work and care and other responsibilities. The Committee notes that the Act of 17 December 2014 amending the Work and Care Act and the Act on Working Hours entered into force on 1 January 2015, and that the amendments introduce, among other things, a transferable maternity leave for the partner when the mother dies during childbirth (or shortly after) (section 3:1a(1)). Women have also been granted the possibility to take up the last weeks of maternity leave (from the seventh week after birth) part time and to spread it over a longer period (section 3:1(6)). The Government also reports that the father or the partner has been granted an extended right to take three days’ unpaid leave after the birth of the child, which the employer cannot refuse, and that the statutory right to paternity leave will be further extended from two to five days’ paid leave. Regarding parental leave (full time or part-time – 26 weeks for each child under 8 years of age), the Government indicates that the requirement to be employed for at least a year has been deleted. Regarding short-term leave in case of emergencies and special personal circumstances, paid leave will also be possible for medical reasons (visit to a doctor or hospital or accompanying others) (section 4:1(2)(c)). Long-term leave has been expanded to cover not only care for the terminally ill but also for the ill in need of care (section 5:9), and the ten days short-term leave has been expanded to cover also care for second-degree family members and social relations (section 5:1 (2)). Regarding the take-up of leave entitlements, the Committee notes from the statistics provided by the Government that in 2013, 38,000 women and 27,000 men took short-term leave (compared to 36,000 women and 35,000 men in 2009); further, 3,000 men and 5,000 women took long-term care leave. Furthermore, parental leave was still taken up substantially more by women than by men employees (71,000 women employees and 29,000 men employees) although the overall take up has been steadily increasing since 2009 (41,000 women and 19,000 men employees).

The Committee notes that FNV and CNV express concern at the lack of paid care leave and severe budget cuts, including the fact that the Act on tax reduction for parental leave has been abolished. According to FNV and CNV, the high percentage of women in part-time jobs is related to relative expensive childcare and the lack of paid parental and paternity leave. Therefore long-term leave and parental leave should be paid leave, and paid leave for fathers after childbirth should be increased to ten days. Regarding care for other members of the family, FNV and CNV maintain that unpaid long-term care leave is not a solution for every worker with long-term care responsibilities. Referring to the amendments of the Social Support Act and the Long-Term Care Act, which entered into force on 1 January 2015, they indicate that these were accompanied with severe budget cuts in social support and long-term care for elderly people and people with disabilities. The Committee notes that in October 2016, the Social Economic Council (SER) published the advice “A working combination” in which it makes proposals to (i) organize time better; (ii) create effective day-care arrangements for school-age children; (iii) optimize leave take up in the first year after the birth of a child; (iv) improve the combination of work and care for persons in need; (v) improve lifelong learning; and (vi) develop a market for personal services. Recalling the importance of equitable sharing of family responsibilities between men and women, the Committee asks the Government to adopt effective measures to encourage the take up of leave arrangements by both men and women workers with family responsibilities, and provide information in this regard as well as on any follow-up given to the recommendations by the SER to optimize leave take up, especially among fathers. In view of the repeated observations by the trade unions that in order to meet the needs of the employees, long-term leave and paternal leave should be paid leave, the Committee asks the Government to hold consultations with the social partners with a view to ensuring that leave entitlements are effective in enabling men and women to undertake without discrimination their family responsibilities, for example through granting paid long-term care leave and additional paid leave for fathers after childbirth (ten days), and to report on the progress made. Further, the Committee asks the Government to continue to provide information, disaggregated by sex, on the number of employees exercising their right to the various leave entitlements under the Work and Care Act.

Article 5. Childcare and family services and facilities. The Committee recalls the importance of ensuring that family services and facilities meet workers’ needs and preferences. It also recalls that in its previous comments it had noted that the use of informal childcare had decreased but that efforts were needed to improve the affordability and quality of childcare services. The Committee notes the statistics provided by the Government in its report on the average number of children from single parent families and two-parent families, using the different type of childcare facilities in 2015 (day-care centres for children under the age of 4; after-school care for school-aged children; and childminders). The data show that day-care centres and out-of-school care are the facilities most used. The Government also reports that at the end of 2015, there were 427,000 households that received a federal childcare subsidy. Regarding the quality of childcare, the Government indicates that the Ministry of Social Affairs and Employment sets quality standards for childcare services and the public health service monitors the safety of childcare and compliance with standards. In its report on the Discrimination (Employment and Occupation) Convention, 1958 (No. 111), the Government also states that it is making efforts to improve the quality of childcare through stimulating parental involvement, raising stability and improving staff quality. To improve accessibility and affordability, fiscal incentives included an increase in the childcare allowance for families in which both parents work and make use of formal childcare (the employed person tax credit), and the extension to six months of the eligibility for childcare allowance during unemployment in 2016. In addition, the “income-based combination deduction” specifically aims at encouraging the secondary earner in the family, in practice mostly women, with children under 12 years of age to work and work more hours. The Committee notes that FNV and CNV observe that after the initial investments to make childcare more affordable, childcare has become more expensive for middle-income working families following severe budget cuts due to the financial crisis. This resulted in an increase of informal childcare arrangements. The FNV and CNV further indicate that in January 2016, the Social Economic Council (SER) recommended that stricter criteria for assessing training and education of care workers be established, care work be further professionalized and administrative procedures for care workers be decreased. The SER also advised that the reasons for the decreased use of formal childcare services be investigated, along with how accessibility, especially for lower income groups, could be improved. The FNV and CNV further state that the Netherlands Bureau of Economic Policy Analysis found that the supplement for childcare – which would increase in 2017 – would mainly benefit high-income groups already working many hours. The Committee asks the Government to continue to provide statistical information, disaggregated by sex, on the availability of affordable and accessible childcare services and facilities including their utilization, that would allow the Committee to assess the progress made since 2015. It also asks the Government to indicate any follow-up to the SER advice to professionalize care work and improve the education and training of care workers, with a view to improving the quality of care. The Committee further encourages the Government to undertake studies or surveys assessing whether the Childcare Act in fact responds to the specific needs and preferences of workers with family responsibilities in both low- and middle-income groups for childcare services and facilities, and to report on the progress made in this regard. The Committee also requests the Government to provide information on the number and nature of services and facilities that exist to assist workers with family responsibilities regarding other dependent members of their family.

The Committee is raising other matters in a request addressed directly to the Government.