ABU Fair Employment Code for labour migrants

What can you expect of the private employment agency?

The private employment agency that offers you work is certified by the ABU. This means that the private employment agency provides for an independent check of its correct application of laws and regulations. The ABU private employment agency also ensures that you are clearly and correctly informed about working and living in the Netherlands. It does this together with the recruitment agency in your country of origin. Apart from correctly following laws and regulations, you can expect the following of a private employment agency that is certified by the ABU:

  • Health and safety: the health and safety of labour migrants has the highest priority. In addition to laws and regulations, during the coronavirus pandemic, members apply the guidelines of the current ABU Coronavirus Safety Protocol for Labour Migrants.
  • Recruitment and selection: members and their recruitment agencies ensure a transparent recruitment process via the application of the guidelines of the enclosed ABU Fair Recruitment Charter. The charter is based on the Fair Recruitment Code of the International Labour Organisation (ILO) and is supplemented with extra guidelines.
  • Contract: members ensure that the agency work employment contract and the accompanying documents are available both in Dutch and in the language of the labour migrant’s country of origin.
  • Wages: in comparison with Dutch agency workers, you will receive equal pay for equal work, in accordance with the rules of the collective labour agreement (CLA).
  • Registration: on the basis of the Wet Basisregistratie Personen (BRP, Personal Records Database Act), labour migrants are responsible for correct registration as residents or non-residents. Members encourage labour migrants to register as residents in the BRP by following the four guidelines below:
    • Members actively inform labour migrants about the differences between Registration of NonResidents (RNI) and registration as residents in the BRP before they come to the Netherlands
    • Members actively notify labour migrants of the possibility of submitting a request to the municipal authority for registration as a resident in the municipal BRP after arrival in the Netherlands
    • Members request municipal authorities to enable registration in the BRP at the location of the labour migrants’ accommodation
    • Members actively notify labour migrants who are new to the Netherlands and starting with registration as non-residents of the possibility of submitting a request to the municipal authority for registration as a resident, four months after the issue of the citizen service number (BSN) and the registration as a non-resident
  • Accommodation: the recruitment agency will give you the initial necessary information about living in the Netherlands. You will be shown an animated video about this. Your recruiter will explain the accommodation possibilities to you. You will also receive information on the conditions if you opt to have the private employment agency arrange accommodation for you. You may also look for accommodation yourself. If you ask the private employment agency to arrange accommodation for you, the following information is important for you:
    • Accommodation arranged by the private employment agency is certified by the SNF organisation. This means that important elements of the accommodation are checked. Information on SNF certificates and the SNF complaints portal is available at https://www.normeringflexwonen.nl/information-for-residents
    • The private employment agency can charge you for the use of accommodation. The charges will not be higher than the actual costs of the accommodation. The private employment agency may deduct a maximum of 25% of the statutory minimum wage from your pay slip for this. If you want the costs of the accommodation to be deducted from your pay slip, you can request this via a written authorisation of the private employment agency. If the costs for the use of the accommodation are higher than 25% of the minimum wage, then the part of the costs for the use of the accommodation earned in excess of the minimum wage may also be deducted. You will be told the costs of the accommodation in advance.
    • If the company where you work cancels the contract with you early, the private employment agency will offer you the possibility of renting the accommodation for at least five more nights. You can ask the private employment agency if you can rent the accommodation for longer. Because of the housing shortage in the Netherlands, this will not always be possible. ABU private employment agencies that operate in municipalities with housing shortages are asking the municipal authorities and housing organisations to build more certified accommodation.
    • You can always ask the private employment agency for general information on other accommodation possibilities in the region.
  • Penalties and compensation for damage: settlement of fines via the pay slip is permitted only in relation to judicial and administrative fines payable by the labour migrant. Settlement of other types of fines is not permitted. Labour migrants who cause damage to property of the employer or the landlord with malicious intent or through gross negligence may be held liable for the damage suffered. The compensation for damage may not exceed the actual costs of repair of the damaged object.
  • Information: labour migrants are actively informed about working and living in the Netherlands before signing contracts and pre-contracts in the country of origin. Members and their recruitment agencies follow the guidelines of the enclosed ABU Fair Recruitment Charter for that purpose.
  • Language and integration: members refer labour migrants to the possibilities available for following language courses via the municipal authority.
  • Complaints: the private employment agency must offer you an accessible complaints procedure. If your recruitment agency and/or private employment agency fails to keep a promise made in this document, you can submit a complaint about this to the private employment agency. If the complaint is not solved, you can also submit it to the ABU reporting centre. In that case, send an e-mail to complaints@abu.nl. In your report, in any event give the name of the recruitment agency and the name of the private employment agency and describe your complaint. The ABU will then address the complaint as soon as possible.

 

What can the recruitment agency expect of you?

The private employment agency, the recruitment agency and you yourself are expected to comply with agreements made. In this way, all parties together create a good partnership.

It is important that you are well-informed about working and living in the Netherlands. The recruiter therefore asks you to declare that you have been well-informed about all the points in this document.

 

Source: ABU.nl