The Netherlands: mini- news

Part-time work most popular in Netherlands and Norway Last year, 18% of the employed population across the EU were in part-time employment, but the distribution of part-time posts was far from even. In the Netherlands, almost half of workers were employed on a part-time basis, a proportion comprising 75% of all working women and 23% of all working men. In Norway, by comparison, the proportion of workers employed on a part-time basis was around 30%. KLM: Grounding pregnant staff The Dutch airline KLM has decided to redeploy all female cabin staff as soon as the company is informed that they are pregnant. Currently, cabin staff employed by the company may continue to fly until the 26th week of pregnancy, but from January 1st 2007 they will be offered alternative employment carrying out ground-based activities or, if this is not available, to take special leave. This action follows the practice of many European airlines concerned about the risks of subjecting unborn children to high doses of cosmic radiation. Companies outside the airline industry may also wish to apply similar restrictions on pregnant staff who are frequent flyers. For further information, please consult the guidance material published on the UK Department of Transport website. Basic rates rise by 1.9% Basic wage and salary rates established though collective labour accords in the Netherlands rose by an average of 1.9% over the year to Q3 2006. However, average contractual wage costs rose by only 1.2% over the same period due to a reduction in premiums for job disability insurance and employer pension contributions.