Dutch working time stands still

Figures published last month have confirmed that working time in the Netherlands has stabilised after years of reductions in hours.

Average annual working hours per full-time worker fell during the 1980s from 1,843 in 1979 to 1,739 in 1989. The 1990s saw a further decline but at a slower rate, with the figure – which is based on agreed working time and excludes overtime – down to 1,717 by the end of the decade.

But the Dutch central bureau of statistics (CBS) has revealed that the country’s full-time workers clocked up an average of 1,720 hours last year – the same as in 2004, and three hours more than in 1999.

By way of comparison, a 38-hour week with five weeks’ holiday plus eight public holidays involves 1,731 hours a year.

The industry with the longest average hours (1,774) is mineral extraction, while health and welfare care has the shortest (1,674).

The CBS report also notes that average working time may increase this year, as some current agreements include elements that increase working time: in the building industry, for example, annual leave has been cut by two days.