Collective Agreements in the Netherlands Before and After COVID-19

Abstract

This research report aims to investigate the extent to which the COVID-19 pandemic has impacted the content of collective labor agreements in The Netherlands. Like other countries in Europe and across the globe, much of the economic activity was disrupted by the onset of the covid-pandemic and subsequent periods of lockdowns in 2020-2022. The crisis situation, perhaps especially during the early phases of the pandemic, made the process of renewing collective agreements sometimes more difficult, see also the adjacent BARCOVID country report on the Netherlands (Jansen 2023). Next to negotiation process, the question to be addressed in this report is to whether the COVID-19 pandemic also impacted collective agreement outcomes.

This is not the first and likely also not the last report on the impact of the COVID-19 crisis on collective bargaining in the Netherlands. De Sauvage Nolting (2022), for example, conducted a small-scale but in-depth comparison of four collective labor agreements in the Netherlands, two of which were labeled as "crisis agreements" and two as regular agreements, all negotiated during the pandemic. He indeed discovered distinct differences in both the process and the outcome between the crisis and non-crisis agreements. The process of the crisis agreements was characterized by a mutual recognition of an industry problem, which led to adjustments in labor conditions, unlike the regular agreements where no special negotiation process was implemented. Furthermore, he identified differences in the outcomes; the regular agreements lacked the sense of urgency found in the crisis agreements, underscoring an absence of a unified approach to tackling the crisis.

Also Harteveld (2023) discusses the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the process and outcomes of collective negotiations in the Netherlands. Studying trends in collective bargaining from 2015 onwards, Harteveld explains that collective negotiations stalled after the outbreak of COVID-19, causing considerable delays and backlog. Following this stagnation, most of the attention collective bargaining discussions shifted to wage-related issues. And next to adjustments in wages Harteveld also observed a substantive impact of the pandemic in terms of a growing number of agreements regarding remote work, including remote work compensation.

The current report conducts a systematic comparison of 64 collective agreements in the Netherlands, both pre- and post-COVID-19. By analyzing the presence or absence of specific clauses within these agreements, this study aims to assess how the pandemic has impacted the outcomes of collective bargaining, particularly in specific areas. Notably, we observe remarkable levels of stability and continuity in several areas such as provisions regarding social security and job security. Although the impact of COVID-19 is not overwhelmingly apparent across all areas, the analysis reveals changes in the clauses pertaining to flexible working conditions, including remote work, as well as in (structural and incidental) wage increases.