Upon receiving your contract, you’ll encounter a CAO: a Collective Labor Agreement. What exactly is a CAO, and which one applies to you? With over 1000 CAOs in the Netherlands, it’s not unusual if you’re unsure. Fear not, as you fall under just one. No need to sift through the other 1000+ CAOs. Now, your task is simple: discover which one it is and explore the contents of CAOs. Lucky for you, we’ve researched and compiled the essential information on this page.
Understanding CAO’s
A CAO, or Collective Labor Agreement, encompasses all employment condition agreements, including wages, allowances, working hours, holidays, overtime, probation periods, notice periods, and pensions. These agreements often surpass statutory conditions, ensuring, for instance, higher wages than the minimum or more vacation days than legally mandated. Rest assured, CAO terms never contradict the law.
What’s in a CAO Regarding Salary?
While CAOs contain various agreements, employees often focus on specific areas like salary and vacation days. Salary details can be found in the CAO by knowing your job’s salary scale and experience years. Negotiating experience years upon employment allows for annual advancements. The resulting figure from the salary table is your guaranteed wage, ensuring your employer pays no less than that amount.
CAO Formation
CAOs result from negotiations between employers, employer organizations, and unions. Union representatives voice employees’ views gathered beforehand. If ideas align after several meetings, a new CAO is agreed upon, typically lasting one or two years.
Types of CAO’s
CAOs are either Industry-wide (sector-specific) or Company-specific. Industry-wide CAOs apply to employers and employees in a particular sector, while Company-specific CAOs are established by individual companies for their employees.
Determining Your CAO
To find out which CAO applies to you, check your contract or ask your employer. If uncertain, online resources, like the Ministry of SZW’s CAO website, can help identify applicable CAOs.
Special Attention: CAO for Temporary Staff:
Temporary staff, often excluded from their host company’s CAO, fall under a specific Uitzend-CAO. Notably, there are two: ABU-CAO and NBBU-CAO, merged into the CAO for Uitzendkrachten 2019–2021.
Contents of Uitzend-CAO
Uitzend-CAOs cover standard CAO aspects and introduce unique elements, such as the “Inlenersbeloning,” ensuring equal terms with permanent employees, and the “Fasensysteem,” determining the temporary staff’s rights and progression towards a permanent contract.
No CAO with Your Employer?
In the absence of a CAO, basic employment conditions are set through mutual agreements with your employer, adhering to statutory rules, guaranteeing at least minimum wage, minimum vacation days, and compliance with legal regulations.