The Working Conditions Act states that employer and employee must ensure better working conditions together. The employer has the final responsibility, but the employee also has the obligation to observe their own safety and health, for example by using work equipment and protection equipment correctly.
The Act states several objectives. Employers and employees can, in part, decide for themselves how to achieve these norms. As an example, the Working Conditions Act regulates the maximum noise level at the workplace, but the company itself decides how to achieve this.
Three levels
The legislation regarding working conditions is arranged in three levels: the Working Conditions Act, the Working Conditions Decree, and the Working Conditions Regulations.
- Working Conditions Act - The Working Conditions Act is the base of the working conditions legislation. In this act are the general provisions that apply to wherever work happens (so including associations and foundations). The Working Conditions Act is a framework law. That means that it does not contain concrete rules. These are elaborated on in the Working Conditions Decree and the Working Conditions Regulations.
- Working Conditions Decree - The Working Conditions Decree is an elaboration of the Working Conditions Act. This decree contains the rules that both employer and employee must follow to prevent occupational risks. These rules are mandatory. It includes diverging and additional rules for several sectors and categories of employees.
- Working Conditions Regulations - The Working Conditions Regulations is a further elaboration of the Working Conditions Decree. These are concrete regulations. For example, the requirements that apply to work equipment, or how an internal occupational health and safety service must fulfil its duties precisely. These rules are mandatory as well, for employer and employee. The government website provides the full text of the Working Conditions Regulations.
Employer's obligations
The working conditions legislation contains obligations that the employer must follow:
- Developing and performing the Working Conditions Act (Occupational Health and Safety Policy). The work that is carried out in a company cannot have detrimental consequences for the health and safety of the employees.
- Handling risks for employees' health at the source as much as possible. An example of this is replacing a machine that makes too much noise by a more silent type.
- adapting the arrangement of workplaces, work methods, used work equipment, and work content to the personal characteristics of its employees as much as possible. This also applies to employees with a structural functional disability such as illness.
- preventing and limiting monotonous work and work at a predetermined work-rate as much as possible ('as can reasonably be expected').
- drawing up and executing a Risk Inventory and Evaluation (RI&E) and Action Plan
- preventing and limiting major accidents that involve hazardous substances.
- providing employees with education. The education can concern the use of work equipment or personal protective equipment, but also the employer's policies regarding aggression, violence and sexual harassment.
- reporting and registering workplace accidents and occupational disease.
- preventing dangers to third parties related to the work that employees do.
- enabling employees to get a periodic occupational medical examination.
Employees' obligations
Employers have obligations, but employees must follow certain rules as well. The most important obligations for employees are:
- using work equipment and hazardous substances in a correct manner.
- Not changing or removing protection devices applied to work equipment, and using these protection devices in a correct manner.
- using the personal protective equipment provided by the employer correctly and store in the intended location.
- cooperating with the education that is organized for the employees.
- if necessary, assisting the employer and other experts (prevention officer, in-house emergency response team, occupational health and safety service) in performing their duties.
Temporary agency workers and interns are usually present in a company for a limited time period and not always familiar with the university organisation and specific risks. According to the Working Conditions Act, the hiring organisation - so in this case VU Amsterdam - bears responsibility for the working conditions of temporary agency workers and interns.
Working conditions catalogue
The Collective Labour Agreement parties collaborated to draw up a new working conditions catalogue psw (psychosocial workload) for the university sector (link in Dutch). This working conditions catalogue consists of two parts: work pressure and social safety. The working conditions catalogue has been approved by the Netherlands Labour Authority in July 2025. The working conditions catalogue contains guidelines and tools for universities to provide employees and students with a healthy and safe work environment.