Working hours in the hospitality industry: everything you want to know!
Summer has now arrived and so hotels, cafes and restaurants are once again experiencing peak traffic. That means hard work and therefore regular long shifts and night shifts. But what does this actually means from a legal perspective, what is allowed; and what is not? In this blog, we cover the most important laws and regulations, including provisions from the Hospitality Industry Collective Labor Agreement (CLA).
Hospitality industry CLA
At the moment, the hospitality industry CLA has been declared as being ‘universally binding’, which means that all employers in the hospitality industry have to apply the CLA, even if they are not members of KHN (Koninklijke Horeca Nederland – a hospitality organization). Be aware that the CLA does not just apply to traditional hospitality businesses. If the wage bill from hospitality activities makes up more than 50% of your company’s total wage bill, you may be required to apply the CLA.
A difference between night and day
According to the Working Hours Act and the Working Hours Decree, a shift for all employees aged 18 and older may last up to a maximum of 12 hours and the weekly working hours may not exceed 60. During a 4-week period, the average week may encompass 55 hours and in each period of 16 consecutive weeks, the average may not exceed 48 hours.
For night shifts, a maximum of 10 consecutive hours may be worked. By law, a night shift is when more than one hour is worked between 00:00 and 06:00 during a shift. If an employee works a night shift less than 16 times in a 16-week period, he may work an average of 48 hours per week. For regular night shifts, i.e. 16 times per 16 weeks or more, a maximum average of 40 hours per week applies.
Young people and students
Special working time rules apply to young people aged 16 and 17. They may work a maximum of 9 hours per day with a weekly total of 45 hours. In each 4-week period, they may not work more than an average of 40 hours per week and only up to 11 p.m. at the latest. This age group is excluded from working overtime and night shifts.
Additionally, the Hospitality CLA states that a ‘student’ (within the meaning of the CLA) may not be required to come to work on a day when he has already completed 6 hours of education. In addition, over each 13-week period, students may not work more than an average of 38 hours per week, which includes standard school hours.
Overtime and working on public holidays
The Netherlands does not have any legislation on additional compensation for work outside ‘normal’ working hours. However, the CLA does contain provisions on this. Overtime requested by the employer is, in principle, compensated in the same amount of time off for the employee, to be taken within three months. If there is no leeway for this from a business perspective, then after that period any overtime hours have to be paid at the full hourly wage. Incidentally, according to the CLA a maximum of 10% overtime applies.
If an employee has to work on a public holiday, then in principle the same regime applies: time for time, within three months. Failing that, the employee receives an extra 50% allowance for those hours worked.
Night shift allowance
In addition, the CLA provides that employees who work for companies that provide accommodation and who have front office positions are entitled to a night shift allowance. The allowance is 10% of the hourly wage and must be applied to each night shift in which, in any case, the employee works continuously from 00:00 to 06:00. In this case, the allowance also applies to the hours of that night shift that were worked before 00:00 and after 06:00.
In conclusion, the laws and regulations in the hospitality industry cover all hours of the day. If you have any questions about the topics highlighted above, or other parts of the CLA, CLINT | Littler would be happy to help.
Lees deze blog in het Nederlands hier.
