Workplace Report November 2017

European news

Dutch rail settlement 


Dutch rail company Nederlandse Spoorwegen (NS) has signed an agreement with unions providing a 5.8% stage increase over 30 months, plus a commitment that compulsory redundancies will, as far as possible, be avoided until the end of March 2020. Pay for NS’s 16,000 employees goes up by 2.3 % in 2017, backdated to 1 October, 2.3 % in October 2018 and 1.2% in October 2019. With inflation currently at 1.3% (October), this is a real-terms pay increase, at least for this year.


The commitment to avoid redundancies is not absolute, but NS has promised that, if there are any, those losing their jobs will be compensated at three times the legal requirement. 


The deal also includes a “generation pact” under which workers within five years of retirement can opt to switch from the normal 36-hour week to 28 hours, a 22% reduction in working time, but only have their pay reduced by 11%, with pension contributions by the company remaining unchanged.