Chapter VI Rules of arbitration

Article 36

  1. Any party with a legitimate interest may petition the subdistrict court judge to rule that the entrepreneur or the Works Council must comply with all requirements stipulated in or pursuant to this Act relating to the establishment and maintenance of a Works Council, the drawing up of provisional or definitive Rules of Procedure for the Works Council, the nomination of candidates for and election of members to the Works Council, and also relating to the publishing of the agendas and minutes of its meetings, insofar as the entrepreneur or the Works Council are responsible for such matters.
  2. The Works Council and the entrepreneur may petition the subdistrict court judge to rule that the entrepreneur or the Works Council must comply with the requirements stipulated in or pursuant to this Act, insofar as the entrepreneur or the Works Council are responsible for such matters.
  3. A petition to the subdistrict court judge pursuant to this Act shall be admissible only if the petitioner has first submitted a written request for mediation to the Joint Sectoral Committee. The Joint Sectoral Committee shall invite the other party to state its views regarding the said petition. The Joint Sectoral Committee shall attempt to bring about an amicable settlement between the parties. If no such amicable settlement can be reached, the Joint Sectoral Committee, within two months of its mediation having been requested, shall submit to each party a written report of its findings containing recommendations for settling the dispute. With the consent of both parties, the Joint Sectoral Committee may extend the said period allowed for issuing its report by a maximum of two months.
  4. The written petition to the subdistrict court judge shall be submitted no later than 30 days after the Joint Sectoral Committee has submitted the report of its findings to the parties, and in any event no later than 30 days after the period mentioned in paragraph (3) has expired. The Joint Sectoral Committee’s report of its findings and its recommendations shall be submitted together with the petition.
  5. A petition to the subdistrict court judge to order compliance with Article 25, in relation to a decision as mentioned therein, shall be declared inadmissible if it transpires that the Works Council, either before or after submitting such a petition, has submitted an appeal against the said decision to the Enterprise Section at the Amsterdam Court of Appeal.
  6. A petition to the subdistrict court judge on the basis of Article 27, paragraphs (4) and (6), shall be inadmissible if a requirement as mentioned in the Working Conditions Act 1998 [Arbeidsomstandighedenwet] has been made in respect of the same matter.
  7. In his ruling, the subdistrict court judge may order the entrepreneur or the Works Council to perform or refrain from performing certain actions. The entrepreneur is forbidden not to abide by any such order. If the Works Council fails to abide by any such order, the subdistrict court judge may dissolve the Works Council, imposing upon it the obligation to arrange for a new Works Council to be elected. If the Works Council remains in default, the subdistrict court judge may authorise the entrepreneur to arrange for a new Works Council to be elected.
  8. The previous paragraphs shall apply mutatis mutandis to compliance with the requirements in or pursuant to this Act in respect of Central Works Councils or Group Works Councils.

Article 36a

Any person working in the enterprise, with the exception of persons as mentioned in Article 35b, paragraph (6), and any employees’ organisation whose membership includes at least one person working in the enterprise and whose object according to its Articles of Association is to protect the interests of its members as employees and which operates as such in the relevant enterprise or industrial sector, and which moreover has had full legal competence for at least two years may request the subdistrict court judge to rule that the entrepreneur must comply with the provisions of Article 35b.