Netherlands becomes one of the first countries to grant remote working flexibility by law

Netherlands becomes one of the first countries to grant remote working flexibility by law

Many of us are now used to working from home more than ever before - and many employees don't want to go back.

It comes as the Covid-19 pandemic changed people’s way of working and living – with many workers demanding more flexibility from their employers.  For employees, working from home (WFH) can mean a better work-life balance, less time wasted on the commute and even increased productivity. Despite these benefits, many companies around the world are now keen to get their employees back to the office.

But for companies in the Netherlands, things are about to change: a new law is set to effectively make working from home a legal right for employees. The law forces employers to consider employee requests to work from home if their professions allow it. For Dutch companies, the new legislation isn't expected to be as contentious. Working from home was popular in the Netherlands before the pandemic. In 2018, 14% of employed Dutch people worked remotely, the highest rate in the European Union, according to Eurostat, the EU’s statistics agency.

The "Work Where You Want" proposal, which the Dutch House of Representatives approved in July, would oblige employers with 10 or more employees to accept workplace requests when certain conditions are met and would make it more difficult to refuse such requests, according to legal experts. The desired workplace must be within the European Union (EU) and must be either the employee's home address or another appropriate workplace where work for the employer usually takes place, they said. If the proposed workplace doesn't meet these requirements, "the employer will still have the 'duty to consider' and, in case of refusal, discuss this with the employee," they added.

Why Should you then use KYHIP VPN When Working remotely?

The appetite for remote working is by no means just a Dutch phenomenon. More and more people are seeking work that gives them the flexibility they need for a healthy work-life balance. This means that the Netherlands is likely to see an influx of international talent looking to benefit from the new law. This could have huge results for businesses in terms of expanding their talent pools and giving them access to the top talent in a competitive market. It sounds like a dream, right? No commute time, no office clothing, and the ability to ignore annoying colleagues if they message you. Yep, working from home sounds great — and it will make you more productive, right?

On the other hand, one of the big challenges, that many people fail to consider, is online security. Using KYHIP will prevent anyone from snooping on you, it will hide your IP address and your internet browsing activity. If you like working from a coffee shop or from different places, KYHIP is a must have. Or maybe you’d like to convert a van drive across USA and blog about your experiences? KYHIP will not only allow you to do this securely, but it will also enable you to access the sites and services that may not be available in the country you are visiting. Instead of forfeiting all that due to data security worry, get your KYHIP private VPN service and work from anywhere.