Wednesday, December 15, 2021, the long-awaited coalition agreement "Looking out for each other, looking forward to the future" was presented. For the labor market, the new administration has an important goal: reform to reduce burdens, improve social security and combat poverty. 'So that working pays, being an employer and entrepreneur remains attractive, our well-being increases and staff shortages in vital sectors can be met.' Han Kolff, CEO HeadFirst Group, responds to the proposed plans.
Rutte IV wants to invest €500 million annually to implement "a number of major reforms," guided by the principles of the Borstlap Commission and the MLT advice of the SER. Solid reports and largely good plans, but now the hard part begins: implementation. This also applies to the premise 'genuine self-employed people are supported and entrepreneurship is stimulated', which has not been further elaborated. I underscore the point of view wholeheartedly, but it depends on making the right choices. Translating words into action requires manpower, knowledge and a clear vision.
The current tightness in the labor market only compounds this challenge. Hastily implementing generic and ill-considered plans can have fatal consequences. We saw this with the introduction of the DBA law, when many independent professionals (zp'ers) experienced loss of income due to reluctant clients. Indeed, many self-employed people are still experiencing inconvenience: the lack of clarity has meant that more than half have found it more difficult to find a suitable assignment. This is on top of the self-employed, nearly 40 percent, whose assignments have been terminated prematurely by clients in recent years due to concerns and lack of clarity around legislation. We absolutely cannot use any further increase. We desperately need every professional group, in whatever form of contract, in the coming years.
Further development of web module
Despite criticism of the web module from industry associations and zzp-interest groups, the focus for the replacement of the DBA law is mainly on the further development of this questionnaire. To create both political and social support, a crucial step is for the Lower House to hold a substantive debate with Karien van Gennip and Marnix van Rij - ministers of Social Affairs and Finance and key players in this discussion - on the pilot results of the web module. The web module can provide certainty in advance, but it is essential that relevant officials at the department restart the conversation with field parties to critically review the underlying system of questions and make fundamental adjustments.
The outcome must not lead to reduced hiring of the self-employed, who are not in need of help and do not need protection against false self-employment. I emphasize this emphatically, because clients and intermediaries do not benefit from unrest and uncertainty either. For situations of intermediation, the web module is not ready, nor has there been a pilot phase. The intermediary industry is happy to help with the further development of a workable web module, so that we can prevent unrest and demand drop-out from self-employed workers.
Enforcement on employment relationships
To "combat false self-employment, there will be better public enforcement in the case of suspected employment". As we discussed in a roundtable discussion with FNV Zelfstandigen, ONL voor Ondernemers and TNO, enforcement on labor relations can have an important function for the balance on the labor market. Important to protect vulnerable and forced self-employed workers and offer security, at the same time we must keep an eye on the diversity of the self-employed population and give conscious self-employed entrepreneurs in the higher segment the freedom to do business. Start enforcement step by step in the sectors, where we know there are many vulnerable self-employed workers working at lower hourly rates. The SER opinion provides guidance for this and keeps the labor market above €35 open and workable.
Stay in conversation with field parties
I advise politicians to stay in conversation with industry associations, intermediaries and self-employed advocates. These are the specialists when it comes to connecting supply and demand in the fragmented and very tight labor market. As one of the parties guiding people from work to work and contributing to the sustainable employability of employed people, we are happy to do our part. In the coming years, we are happy to work and - more importantly - implement the plans to make serious work of the labor market of tomorrow.